Megaconferences: View from Bangladesh

Abstract

In the last quarter of a century, a number of megaconferences on water and environment have been held to address the burning issues of development of the day and recommend solutions to some of the identified problems. There is, however, persistent criticism about the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of such conferences, though the views expressed on them are mostly conjectural in nature. The Third World Centre for Water Management in Mexico has undertaken the rather unpleasant task of evaluating the impact of such megaconferences on water management at regional/national level primarily on the basis of perception of the regional/ national water management community with the implicit aim of improving the standing and performance of similar events.