KYOTO -- For eight days, and at a considerable cost to local taxpayers, the World Water Forum brought together international corporations in the water supply business, World Bank officials and a large number of Japanese construction and design firms, as well as senior government officials and thousands of members of nongovernmental organizations.
But in the end, a lack of political will due to ongoing controversies over the privatization of water supplies and the war in Iraq left many participants doubting whether the conference produced anything of value.
The war began on the fifth day of the conference and prompted several delegates from the Arab world to leave.