unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/03/89)
INTERREGIONAL SEMINAR ON WATER-QUALITY MANAGEMENT
IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO BE HELD IN WARSAW
Approximately 60 specialists in water-quality management will gather in
Warsaw, Poland, from 18 to 22 September 1989, to analyse the nature of water
pollution in developing countries and to identify measures to control pollutio
and manage water quality. It is expected that representatives of about
20developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America will attend the
seminar, as well as participants from Eastern and Western Europe, North
America and several United Nations agencies. The seminar is sponsored by the
United Nations Department of Technical Co-operation for Development (DTCD) and
the Polish Government. A number of internationally known experts and United
Nations specialists will present background papers, and country representative
will present case studies and exchange experiences.
The seminar is being held because of the increasing awareness in both
developed and developing countries of the immediate need to control water
pollution, which is threatening both the health of populations and the amount
of good water available to them. In many areas, even the ground water is no
longer safe as a result of infiltration by hazardous chemicals from
agricultural and industrial activities. It is crucial for developing countrie
to begin their water conservation and quality-control programmes now in order
to avoid more serious problems in the future.
The DTCD considers water-quality management an issue of primary concern.
In many of its field projects in developing countries, the problem is not so
much locating a source of water, but locating a source of good water. Water
treatment is not enough; serious contamination must be prevented before it
occurs. As the developing countries realize the dangers posed to their
environments by the discharge of toxic and other wastes into their rivers,
they will have to incorporate preventive measures into their planning
processes. It is expected that the experiences of developed countries may be
instructive in formulating such measures.
The seminar will be organized into five technical sessions, covering the
following topics:
I. Water quality and pollution control -- planning and management
(nature of water pollution, water pollution resulting from urban and
agricultural activities, eutrophication, planning and management for
sustainable development);
II. Technical aspects of water-quality management (water-quality
monitoring, information networks, aquifer protection systems and
models, river-water quality assessment);
III. Economic aspects of water-quality management (linkage between
economic and ecological issues, economic incentives for protection
of water quality in market and planned economies);
IV. Institutional aspects of water-quality management (training and
education, government regulations and standards, organizational and
legal principles); and
V. Summary of conclusions and recommendations of Working Groups on
Technical, Economic, and Institutional/Legal Aspects of Water
Quality Management.
It is expected that the group will develop guidelines for planners in
developing countries to formulate, implement and enforce policies to reduce
the dangers from water pollution before it is too late.
Countries which are expected to send representatives include the
following: Brazil, China, Egypt, Fiji, France, German Democratic Republic,
Federal Republic of Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, Nigeria,
Philippines, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom,
United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Venezuela, Zaire and Zimbabwe.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), DTCD and other
international agencies will also send experts.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations
patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information
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