UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL,SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION(UNESCO)

by Mr Walter Erdelen

Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences

Beijing, 29 July 2009

Your Excellencies,
Mr Chen Lei, Minister of Water Resources of China,
Prof. Kuang Shangfu, Director of IRTCES,
Mr Fang Maotian, Secretary General of the Chinese National
  Commission for UNESCO,
Prof. Hu Chunhong, Secretary General of IRTCES,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentleman,

It is a great honour and pleasure for me to be present here today to offer my sincere congratulations to the International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation, or IRTCES, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

In order to address sediment and erosion issues, IRTCES was established in 1984 with the support of the Chinese government and UNESCO.  Since its founding, IRTCES has made very significant contributions to research and training for solving scientific and engineering problems related to erosion and the subsequent deposition of sediment.

In 2004, the IHP Intergovernmental Council invited IRTCES to undertake the duties of the Technical Secretariat to UNESCO’s International Sediment Initiative, ISI, a programme associated with the International Hydrological Programme (IHP). Establishment of IRTCES as the Technical Secretariat of ISI was confirmed in the renewal of the Agreement between UNESCO and IRTCES in 2005.  ISI is a global initiative whose activities increase awareness of sediment dynamics and erosion issues in all spheres of water management and which promotes sustainable management of soil and sediment resources at local, regional and global scales.

The initiative assesses erosion and sediment transport by rivers to lakes, reservoirs and marine environments, in order to craft holistic approaches for the remediation and conservation of surface waters.  The initiative focuses on sediment quantity and quality, as well as the economic, social and ecological aspects related to erosion and sedimentation. 

ISI aims to develop a decision support framework for sediment management in order to provide guidance on legislative and institutional solutions which are applicable to various socio-economic and physiographic settings, in the context of global changes.

Our main goal is to strengthen the cooperation between ISI, IHP and IRTCES.

Ladies and Gentleman,

IRTCES, one of the world's leading research and training centres, not only makes a very important contribution to the IHP by providing the ISI secretariat but it also implements IHP activities.  The contribution is highly valued by researchers and policy-makers worldwide.  UNESCO is proud to have IRTCES as part of the growing network of international and regional centres dealing with water and sustainable development, operating under the auspices of the Organization.

To mark this Silver Jubilee occasion, IRTCES is also organizing an International Advanced Training Workshop on Integrated River Basin Management, from 27 July to 4 August 2009, at which numerous issues will be discussed and future directions identified.

It is essential that UNESCO and the scientific community worldwide continue to play a vital role in establishing the scientific and technological bases for sediment management, an important component of sustainable water resources management.

On behalf of the UNESCO, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to IRTCES for its achievements during the past quarter-century, and very best wishes for its continued success in the next twenty-five years.

Thank you.