World leaders and water management experts will meet at the Third World Water Forum in Japan from 16-23 March to develop concrete actions to achieve the international water goals of halving the world populations without access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

OECD Secretary-General Donald Johnston will actively participate in the Forum, and the OECD has produced a publication -- Improving Water Management: Recent OECD Experience -- bringing together the lessons learned through extensive work on different aspects of water management from across the Organisation. This includes the main policy messages drawn from experiences in OECD countries with water management and water pricing systems, and on lessons learned through work with countries in transition and China on financing water services infrastructure, and work with donor countries on bilateral and multilateral aid to support water objectives.

For more information, see also:

OECD Observer Spotlight on Water
Special guest contributions from Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and Co-Chair of the Ministerial Conference, Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Yolanda Kakabadse, President of The World Conservation Union.

Policy Brief: Improving Water Management: Recent OECD Experience , 2003

OECD Environmental Performance Reviews - Water: Performance and Challenges in OECD Countries , 2003

Assessing Microbial Safety of Drinking Waters: Perspectives for Improved Approaches and Methods, 2003

OECD Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century , 2001

Environmental Indicators for Agriculture Volume 3: Methods and Results, 2001

Water Management and Investment in the New Independent States, 2001

OECD Environmental Outlook, 2001

The Price of Water: Trends in OECD Countries, 1999