In preparation for the 3rd Steering Meeting and Workshop of the International Network on Water and Ecosystems in Paddy Fields (INWEPF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 17 to 19 September 2006, the Japan INWEPF Committee is convening a virtual meeting on “Efficient and sustainable water use to address poverty alleviation and food security” from 21 August to 01 September 2006.

The meeting will be divided into several meeting rooms according to sub-themes: Efficiency and sustainability of irrigation systems; What do 'efficiency' and 'sustainability' mean when other objectives are also considered (e.g. multifunctionality, governance, and participation)?; Maintenance, rehabilitation and multiple use of irrigation infrastructure; and Competition among water users at the basin level: "Building a win-win relationship".

The results of the virtual meeting will be a resource for discussion at the workshop in Malaysia. Hence, participation will contribute to both the virtual meeting and the workshop.

The portal of the virtual meeting is at http://www.maff.go.jp/inwepf/en/vm/vm.htm It provides detailed information and leads you to each of the ‘meeting rooms’.

FAO is a member of INWEPF. For more information, please go to the INWEPF website: http://inwepf.dc.affrc.go.jp/ or contact Thierry Facon, senior water management officer, FAO Bangkok, at thierry.facon@fao.org