Bali, 11 October 2023 – Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (MPWH) Basuki Hadimuljono as Vice Chairman of the National Organizing Committee (NOC) of the 10th World Water Forum (WWF) opened the International Steering Committee (ISC) on 11 October 2023 attended by the President of the World Water Council (WWC)  Loïc Fauchon, The Acting Governor of Bali and members of the NOC of the 10th World Water Forum.

On this occasion, Basuki Hadimuljono explained that the 2nd Stakeholders Consultation Meeting (SCM) which will take place on 12-13 October 2023 will be an important milestone towards the peak event of the 10th World Water Forum in May 2024. Over several days this forum will intensively discuss and establish the foundations of the 10th World Water Forum.

"The results of these discussions will contribute to shaping the future of water sustainability. identified problems will be raised through thematic, regional and political processes with complex interlinkages that need to be discussed among stakeholders," he said.

He explained that in the thematic process, Indonesia has decided on 6 sub-themes, namely water for humans and nature, water security and prosperity, disaster risk reduction and management, governance, cooperation and water diplomacy, sustainable water finance, as well as knowledge and innovation.

"in the regional process, we are set to have four regions, namely the mediterranean, Asia Pasific, Africa and America," said Basuki Hadimuljono.

In the political, Indonesia has decided on five segments, namely head of state; minister, parliament, local authorities and basic authorities. Minister Basuki also expressed his gratitude to all parties who have committed to this forum since Indonesia was selected as the co-host of the 10th World Water Forum in May 2024.

President of the World Water Council (WWC)  Loïc Fauchon mentioned that the foremost objective of the forum is to convince political and economic decision makers that water is a political issue.

"We must be able to convince them that water is a matter of political policy. In May 2024, heads of state, minister, members of parliament, local authorities and basic authorities must be committed to this goal," he said.

Furthermore,  Loïc Fauchon affirmed the importance of working toward the real efforts that have direct impacts on the wider community, the population of a region.

"They want to know how we work," he said.

Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, said that Indonesian local authority associations, such as Association of Municipal Governments of Indonesian (APEKSI), Association of District Governments of Indonesia (AKAPSI), and Association of Provincial Governments of Indonesia (APPSI), have an agenda to initiate collaborative actions with united Cities and Local Governments (UCGL) in establishing working groups and preparing their participation in the future forums. "The list of heads of state who will be invited is still under discussion, including the MIKTA Forum, namely Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea,  Türkiye and Australia," he added.

For information, the International Steering Committee discussion forum is one of the accompanying events in the 2nd Stakeholders Consultation Meeting event series.