GEOSCIENCE DIVISION
Map Cook Islands Federated Sates of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Nauru Niue Papua New Guinea Republic of Marshall Islands Republic of Palau Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Country
Population
Land Area
Climate
Water resource
Water consumption
Country Cook Islands Cook Islands
Population 21,750 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 236.7 km2
Climate
Water resource
Water consumption
Country Federated Sates of Micronesia Federated Sates of Micronesia
Population 107,862 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 702 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 4,928 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Fiji Fiji
Population 918 675 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 18,270 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 2000 - 3000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Kiribati Kiribati
Population 107,817 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 811 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: South of the equator: 1,300 mm Tarawa: 2,000 mm Northernmost islands: over 3,200mm Eastern Line Islands: less than 1,000 mm
Water consumption
Country Nauru Nauru
Population 11,528 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 21 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 2,090 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Niue Niue
Population 1,625m(GoN statistics 2006)
Land Area 260 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 2,180 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea
Population 5,795,887 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 462,840 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall:1000-80000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Republic of Marshall Islands Republic of Marshall Islands
Population 20,842
Land Area 458 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 3,700 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Republic of Palau Republic of Palau
Population 61,815(July 2007 est.)
Land Area 11,854.3 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: Southern attols: 4,000mm Northern attols:2,000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Samoa Samoa
Population 214,265
Land Area 2,944 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 3,000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Solomon Islands Solomon Islands
Population 566,842
Land Area 28,450 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall:1500-5000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Tonga Tonga
Population 116,921
Land Area 748 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: Varies from north and south of tonga with an estimated average of 2500 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Tuvalu Tuvalu
Population 11.992 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 26 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 3000mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Vanuatu Vanuatu
Population 211,971 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 12,200 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 2000 - 4000 mm per annum
Water consumption
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National Water Apex Bodies (NWAB)
The National Water Apex Body (NWAB) is formed to see through national reforms for water services and resource management. The NWAB plays a key role in coordinating institutional changes towards Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) by providing a forum for different government departments and representatives of key stakeholder groups to meet and work together to develop and advice government on intersectoral/-ministerial development objectives, policies, work plans and legislation for water resources management.

An Apex body can take on a variety of forms, such as National Water Resource Council, Committee, Commission, Board or Authority, together with its supporting offices or secretariats. Regardless of the name and form of the NWAB, it has the role of coordinating and advising water sector reforms and policy processes.

This toolkit contains key resource documents on the rationale for and the role of NWAB, key processes and suggested structures of a NWAB, guidelines for monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of an NWAB and presentation of case studies that examine the success of existing NWAB's set up in other regions of the world.
Rationale
Water sector reforms have proven to be challenging in terms of coordination and the most proactive  decision governments can take to tackle this is to create a National Water Apex Body (NWAB) to oversee and coordinate reforms.

Once given the mandate to operate, the NWAB becomes the "eyes and ears" of the executive policy makers on the ground providing a forum for interaction and consultation with key stakeholder groups as well as making sure that water reform is coordinated across different sectors and government departments. The NWAB helps government to drive reforms for sound and sustainable management, which is one of the key foundations for human and environmental health and economic development-water.
  1. Apex Bodies: The Coordinating Eye behind Water Sector Reforms
  2. Coordination of the Water and Sanitation Sector: Background to the Kiribati National Water and Sanitation Coordination Committee
  3. Country Water Action: Nepal Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS): Steering Nepal's Water Sector
  4. ADB's Water Policy and the Need for National Water Sector Apex Bodies
  5. Direction and Experience in Water Sector Apex Body Development
  6. Community participation in Water Governance is it achievable through the Apex Bodies in Asia?
Role and Mandate
Role of the National Water Apex Body (NWAB), regardless of its structure and name, is to coordinate water sector reform od different forms and shapes. In order to execute this role effectively the NWAB should be officially mandated by government to advise, develop, coordinate implementation, monitor, evaluate and adapt national policy, work plans and legislation pertaining to water resources management. This includes providing government with advice on decisions concerning the water sector.

Official endorsement and follow up by executive level Government is important because what needs to be kept in mind is that the apex body should not become an institution without any teeth. In spite of hurdles, the apex body ssshould be proactive in the decision making mechanism of Parliament. The following documents provide a background to the expected functions of a water apex body.
  1. The National Water and Sanitation Committee strenths, proposed Mission, aims, Terms of Reference, Coordination, Reporting and Composition (Draft)
  2. Pacific Programme for Water Governance. Kiribati Water Governance milestone Report 2: Activities 3 & 4
  3. Country Water Action: Phillippines Rationalizing Tariffs for Private Water Utilities under the National Water Resources Board
  4. Leadership in Water Governance through National Apex Bodies
  5. Water Resources: Chapter 16
Processes and Suggested Structures
The key documents in this section highlights the policy and processes involved in water reforms and how these processes have helped better coordinate with the stakeholders and other sectors. It also provides illustrations and examples of the  existing  structures of National Water Apex Bodies (NWAB) that are in use. It also shows that no matter what structure is adopted for an apex body to be fully functional it requires sustained political committment.

To carry oput this function, the committee of the memebership usually encompasses all the stakeholders involved in the waters ector including civil society. Such memberships allows for links with the sectors of concern to water reform.

The resources contained in this section also provide guidance on how to engage with stakeholders and form partnerships in order to  achieve the objectives of the apex body. The following is a list of key documents.
  1. Intergovermental Agreement On A National Water Initiative
  2. Study of National Water Sector Apex Bodies and Civil Society  Involvement in Asia. Summary of Thailand, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka  Case Studies April 2005
  3. 27th WEDC Conference. People and Systems for Water , Sanitation and Health. networking Wter Committee in Madagascar
  4. Partnerships in the Water and Sanitation Sector
  5. Development of the Kiribati NWSC
Monitoring and Evaluation Guidelines
The monitoring and evaluation key documents provides an overview of the benchmarking process used by other national water committees to see how far they have come, if they have achieved their objectives and what more needs to be done. For any organization the monitoring and evaluation of their funtion is key, if they want to know the true impact of their work.

The work of any organization can not be said to be successful until and unless all the key indicators are accounted for. To do this regular monitoring and evaluation of the status of these key indicators must be performed. The documents also provide an idea of the indicators that can be used to  measure the performance of the NWAB.
  1. Country Water Action: Asia National Water Sector Apex Bodies- Blazing New Trails with Performance Becnshmarking of National Water Sector Apex Bodies
  2. Perfornmance indicators for Benchmarking of National Water Sector Apex Bodies
  3. Introducing a Framework for National Water Sector Apex Bodies to Assess their Effectiveness
Case Studies
The following case studies provide an example of what the National Water Apex Bodies (NWAB)processes and suggested structures are to be, the monitoring and evaluation guidelineS, the rationale and the role and mandate of the NWAB.
  1. Country Paper: National Water Sector Apex Body Regional Meeting of National Water Sector Apex Bodies (18-27 May 2004, Hanoi, Vietnam) Bangladesh: Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO)
  2. Country Paper: National Water Sector Apex Body Regional Meeting of National Water Sector Apex Bodies (18-27 May 2004, Hanoi, Vietnam) Lao PDR: Water Resources Coordinating Committee
  3. Country Paper National Water Sector Apex Body Nepal: Water and Energy Commission Secretariat
  4. Philippines: National Water Resources Board
  5. Country Paper: National Water Sector Apex Body Regional Meeting of National Water Sector Apex Bodies (18-27 May 2004, Hanoi, Vietnam) Sri Lanka: National Water Resources Authority
  6. Country Paper: National Water Sector Apex Body Regional Meeting of National Water Sector Apex Bodies (18-27 May 2004, Hanoi, Vietnam) Viet nam: National Water Resources Council
  7. Kiribati briefing to European Union Delegation. August 2008. EU Water Governance Programme. Kiribati Pilot Project
  8. EU Pacific Water Governance  Project Kiribati, Pilot Study. Long Term Water and Sanitation priorities in Kiribati for potential support under EU EDF 10 (Draft)
  9. The Establishment of the Brazilian National Water Agency
  10. Country Water Action: Philippines. National Regulator takes Drastic Measures against Big Time Commercial Water Abusers