The Fifth World Water Forum will be held in Istanbul in March 2009. A few months prior, the Fondation Chirac, Unesco and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) are organizing “L’Eau pour la Paix, la Paix pour l’Eau” (Water for Peace - Peace for Water). This conference which aims to promote transboundary cooperation and access to water in fragile States will be held Thursday, November 13, 2008 at UNESCO (Paris).

The debates will be introduced by President Jacques Chirac and Koïchiro Matsuura, Director General of Unesco. Jean-Michel Severino, Director General of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) will contribute to the second roundtable (see the programme).

The conference has the following objectives:

• To introduce and encourage the implementation of existing international legal instruments pertaining to water, as well as the adoption of regional or bilateral agreements complementing universal treaties. 
• To reinforce increasing awareness of water-related conflicts, whether political or armed, and the case of fragile states. 
• To contribute, through its recommendations, to the political process of the Istanbul Forum of March 2009.

For more information on the event and to register please visit the website of Fondation Chirac.