"This paper aims to stimulate debate on and promote a better understanding of

the importance of water security in the lives of the world’s poor. The goal is to

set out a basic conceptual framework to help explain the relationship between

poverty and water security. The paper primarily targets the international water

community: water resources experts and policy makers who are part of the ongoing

debate on how to sustain and improve our management of water resources and

the delivery of the different services these resources provide.

The initial draft was written to begin a series of national and regional consultations

and case studies that will culminate in sessions at the 3rd World Water Forum in

Japan in March 2003. This version takes into account the lessons learned from

those consultations and is grounded in real life experiences."

Asian Development Bank, by John Soussan, 2004