Keynote Lectures
We have the honour and pleasure to announce the participation of the following distinguished keynote speakers at the Congress.Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General
Angel
Gurría, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría took up the post of
Secretary-General of the OECD on 1 June 2006 following a distinguished career in Mexico’s public service,
including: Minister of Foreign Affairs (1994 – 1998) and Minister of Finance and Public Credit (1998
– 2000). Mr. Gurría developed a close relationship with the OECD, overseeing the initial years of
Mexico’s membership and chairing the OECD’s Ministerial Council Meeting in 1999.
He
served as Mexico’s Permanent Representative to the International Coffee Organisation, based in London,
from 1976 to 1978, and held various roles
in the fi nancial area of Mexico’s Federal Electricity
Commission, National Development Bank (Nafinsa), Rural Development Fund, and the Offi ce of the Mayor of
Mexico City. Following a 14-year tenure at Mexico’s Finance Ministry from 1978 to 1992, he became
President and CEO of Mexico’s export-import bank, Bancomext in 1992. In 1993, Mr. Gurría was
appointed President and CEO of Mexico’s national development bank, Nacional
Financiera.
Summary of A. Gurria speech
Global access to water and sanitation is one of the most critical challenges for policy makers. There are still 1.1 billion people who lack access to safe drinking water and more than 2.5 billion without access to basic sanitation services. Demographic expansion, economic growth and climate change will increasingly strain competition for water resources between domestic, agricultural and industrial users.
Water scarcity and limited access to water and sanitation services are predominately the result of poor governance, inefficient management and unfulfilled international commitments. This situation calls for a renewed approach, based on a mix of integrated policy measures and reforms. Guaranteeing “water for all” will demand a set of cultural changes and tough political decisions, like setting the right prices signals for consumers. For this to happen we need to “get the incentives right’’ through innovative formulas based on effective co-operation and mutual learning; formulas that are carefully tailored to local realities.
As a multidisciplinary international organisation with extensive experience on water issues, economics, governance and development, OECD is uniquely positioned to help countries to improve their management systems, to make their international co-operation more effective and to address the political economy challenges of water reform.
Michel Jarraud OMM Secretary-General
Michel Jarraud, OMM Secretary-General Michel
Jarraud was appointed Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation by the Fourteenth World
Meteorological Congress and took up his post on 1 January 2004. He was re-appointed by the Fifteenth World
Meteorological Congress for a second fouryear
term starting 1 January 2008. Before joining the WMO
Secretariat as Deputy Secretary-General in January 1995, Mr Jarraud devoted part of his career to the
internationally renowned European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). He was appointed
Deputy Director of the Centre in 1991, having been Director of the Operational Department since 1990. From June
1978 to December 1985, he was a Researcher in numerical weather prediction at ECMWF. Mr Jarraud started his
career with the French National Meteorological Service, Météo-France, as researcher (September
1976-May 1978). He joined Météo-France again in January 1986 as Director of the Weather
Forecasting Department, until December 1989.
World Meteorological Organisation
John Pigram -IWRA Ven Te Chow Laureate 2008
In a
rapidly changing global environment, the leadership of the International Water Resources Association and its
members is vital in promoting sustainable water planning and management for all the world's peoples. The
Association, through its network of expertise and experience and its influence, is uniquely placed to help the process
of reform, restructuring and redistribution necessary to achieve sustainable solutions to global and regional water
issues. To some, globalization is a suspect process to be resisted. However, in a positive sense, globalization implies
sharing, collaboration and partnership. Globalization offers a means whereby developing, as well as industrialized
nations, water-rich and water-poor, and the public and private sector, can be brought together in a mutually
advantageous relationship to share knowledge and ensure that the dissemination of technological advances and better
practice in water management is directed towards overcoming water scarcity and deficiencies in sanitation. The need
to address water-related problems in a trans-disciplinary way and to pursue partnerships and common ground
between governments, water professionals and involved communities are essential if the world is to meet the water
challenges of today and tomorrow.
September 2nd, from 18:00 am to 19:00, in Room Pasteur
Luis Carlos Guedes Pinto, former Ministre Agriculture of Brazil
Luis Carlos Guedes Pinto, Former Brazilian Minister of
Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply Luis Carlos Guedes Pinto graduated in Agronomy Engineering in
1965
and earned his PhD in Agronomy in 1973 at “Luiz de Queiroz” Agricultural College,
University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP). Between 1973-1982 he participated in the creation of EMBRAPA
(Brazilian Agency for Agricultural Research), became Chief of Staff to the President and Head of the Technical
Advising Unit, among other
responsibilities. In 2003-2004 he was president of CONAB, Brazil’s crop
supply agency. He held the post of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply in
2005-2006. He was Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply for the period 2006-2007.
Download Luis Carlos Guedes Pinto presentation
Sanjit Bunker Roy - India’s Barefoot College generation
Sanjit “Bunker” Roy, Founder of the Barefoot
College and the Global Rainwater Harvesting Collective
Since founding the Social Work and Research Centre in 1972, Roy has been living in Tilonia, a village in one of
India’s largest, driest and poorest states and devoting his life to bettering the conditions of the rural poor.
Better known as the Barefoot College, the centre has trained two generations of villagers without any formal paper
qualifications to become health-care workers, solar engineers, hand-pump mechanics and teachers in their
communities. Thanks largely to its efforts, over 100,000 people in 110 villages now have access to safe drinking
water, education, health and employment.
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