A record of some 30,000 people from all over the world, including 25 heads of state, some 180 ministers, are gathering Sunday in Turkey for the World Water Forum (WWF), the world's largest assembly on vital water resources.

A number of high-rank officials, such as Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito and Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon have arrived in the largest Turkish city of Istanbul Sunday to attend the 5th WWF.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul is to address the opening ceremony on Monday morning, kicking off a wide range of activities from heads of state summit to multi-shareholder topic discussions, from Water Expo to water fair.

"Awareness-raising for the broader public, integration of non-governmental organizations and private business and the obligation to showcase good examples are expected to be the concrete result of this forum," said Klaus Topfer, the 5th WWF Ambassador, former German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and previous Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program.

"We have to hurry up in the overall field of water. We have to do more than we are doing now to prevent the growing population...coming to the limits of the carrying capacity of this globe. We do not have a second globe in reserve -- we have to handle it here," he added.

The WWF, organized by the World Water Council together with the host country, convenes every three years, aimed to raise the importance of water on the political agenda, seek solutions to international water problems and formulate concrete proposals to the world.

The 5th edition of the forum, with the theme of "Bridging Divides for Water," lasts from March 16 to 22 in Istanbul, which stands on both sides of Bosporus, a narrow strait between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea, bridging Asia and Europe both physically and culturally.

It is the first time for the forum to be held in a place so close to water. The two main venues of the forum are Sutluce Congress and Cultural Center as well as the Feshane, standing on the two sides of the Golden Horn, an inlet of the Bosporus Strait. The Galata Bridge will literally "bridge the divide" between both sides.

The forum comes at a time when the world is suffering an increasingly severe water crisis. A report issued by Davos World Economic Forum on Jan. 30 warned that the world is heading towards "water bankruptcy" as demand for the precious commodity outstrips even high population growth.

Water is a finite resource as precious as oil. In fact, of all the water on the Earth, only 2.5 percent is freshwater of which over two thirds is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. Therefore, available freshwater represents less than half of 1 percent of the world's total water stock.

According to the 2nd UN World Water Development Report, about 20 percent of the world's population, or 1.1 billion people, lacks access to safe drinking water and 40 percent lacks access to basic sanitation, due to unfair distribution, mismanagement and inadequate investment in infrastructure.

World Resources, a publication of the UN Environment Program, the World Bank and the World Resources Institute, has a dire warning that "The world's thirst for water is likely to become one of the most pressing resource issues of the 21st century."

The only way to measurably and sustainably improve this dire situation is through broad-scale collaborative efforts among governments, industry, academic, and other stakeholders around the world.

The 5th WWF, with the aim of putting water firmly on the international agenda, serves as the platform for water community and policy-makers, non-government organizations as well as individuals across the world to foster discussion and debate in a bid to find sustainable solutions to the daunting challenges of water.

During this year's event, about 100 topic-sessions are to be held and each one is attempting to provide an answer and clearer understanding on a crucial water-related question under six themes: global change and risk management, advancing human development and the Millennium Development Goals, managing and protecting water resources, governance and management, and finance.

Three prestigious water-related prizes are to be awarded on the occasion of the forum -- The Turkish Republic Prime Minister's Water Prize, The King Hassan II Great World Water Prize and the Kyoto World Water Grand Prize -- to honor the organizations or individuals that scored outstanding achievements in any aspects of water resources.

During the forum, the World Water Expo, which involves leading companies of water, will present their services, products and advanced technologies, to effectively bridge the supply with the demand for innovation and advanced technologies.