Marseilles, France, Oct. 9, 2003 -- The World Water Council, a crosssectoral water policy think tank aiming to promote global water awareness at the highest political level, announces the appointment of its new president, William J. Cosgrove, previously Vice-president of the council over the last three years.
A member of the World Water Council since its inception in 1996, Cosgrove is well known for his outstanding performance as the director of the Vision for Water, Life and the Environment in the 21st Century, in which he contributed by bringing his experience and skills, and his belief in open communications and participatory processes.
The results of the Vision exercise were presented during the 2nd World Water Forum in The Hague and published under the title "World Water Vision: Making Water Everybody's Business".
Most recently he supervised "World Water Actions Making Water Flow for All," the report of a two-year action monitoring program that aimed to bring the Vision to reality.
The report was launched at the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto, in March 2003. "Since its formation, the World Water Council has played a significant role raising awareness of water issues at both the public and political levels.
Yet, the need to act is becoming more urgent day by day while investments in water infrastructure are decreasing. The objective of the international community to reduce the number of people living in poverty will not be achieved without major increased investments in water", explained William J. Cosgrove. Cosgrove has over 40 years of experience in Canada and in international institutions.
Up to 1972, his experience was in consulting engineering firms in Montreal, Quebec, in strategic planning, institution building and sustainable development in the water and power sectors. He then joined the World Bank, initially as Water Resources Specialist in the North Africa/Middle East Region.
After a varied career leading to the position of Vice-President, he resigned from the Bank in 1989 to enter Quebec politics. William Cosgrove is chairman of the International Steering Committee of the Dialogue on Water and Climate.
He also compiled the results of the first phase of the UNESCO-Green Cross International Programme Potential for Conflict to Cooperation Potential (PCCP) in the volume "Water Security and Peace".
He is a member of the Board of the International Water Resources Association.
