Fwd: Fw: World Water Forum 2021: Salzburg Forum with Mr. Bai-Maas Taal

Dear Adam,

Hope you're enjoying your vacation.

Since the date of the Salzburg Forum(SzF) is approaching, I wanted to share with you some thoughts/ideas I had after our meeting with Mr. Bai-Maas Taal at IPI.

Before going into the substance, I want to thank you, Nadia and Youssef, for making the time to meet Mr. Taal, despite a hectic schedule during the HLPF. I think the meeting went well and I am pleased to hear that Mr. Taal accepted IPI's invitation to attend the SzF. His presence may provide a good opportunity to explore with him possible next steps, which is the subject of this message.

During our conversation, Mr. Taal mentioned that in preparation for the 9th World Water Forum (WWF) "Dakar 2021" the National Organizing Committee with which he was affiliated will be organizing a series of preliminary Given the Dakar Forum will be dedicated to water, peace, development, I wanted to suggest that you explore with Mr. Taal (during SzF), if you agree, the possibility of IPI partnering with the Organizing Committee to convene a policy forum on the subject of Water Diplomacy and Sustaining Peace (which could also fit well into one of the convening for our Water Diplomacy Project). As we all have noticed, both, diplomacy and peace came up during the discussion with Mr. Taal.

This engagement will involve as is customary the preparation of a concept note and an agenda, an issue brief (on which I am working under Youssef's guidance) all culminating in a meeting summary report with a recommendation that could eventually feed into the deliberation during the Dakar Forum.

If the suggestion is accepted and find favor with Mr. Taal, I will be more than happy to write the first draft of the concept note and the preliminary agenda, under Nadia and Youssef's guidance.

Obviously, this has budgetary implications which I also took into consideration. Outreach to Brazil (the host of this year's Forum, Switzerland, Sweden, and Finland could be a first step towards securing some funds, given their interest in the subject. Your contacts in the Geneva Water Hub could also prove helpful in this regard.

In this connection, I would like to draw your attention to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who has been taking a leadership role in different floras across the globe and is increasingly innovating and investing in the water sector. During my engagements at the HLPF, I learned that in 2015 the Dutch Government appointed the first of its kind "Special Envoy for Water Affairs" (https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2015/03/12/henk-ovink-appointed-as-first-special-envoy-for-international-water-affairs-for-the-kingdom-of-the-netherlands). I briefly met and spoke with the Envoy, Mr. Henk Ovink and I have his business card. Through him, the Netherlands could also be a potential co-sponsor/co-founder of the proposed preparatory event on Water Diplomacy and Sustaining Peace.

If you feel the above proposal is worth considering, I will be happy to meet with you and Nadia later this month before you travel to Austria for some brainstorming.

Thank you and look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

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