The current situation in relation to water resources, water needs, and key water problems is evaluated. The development over the past few decades of a holistic approach to the management of water resources is reviewed. This new viewpoint involves a combination of appropriate economics, appropriate ecological management, and adoption of a participatory approach, in addition to the appropriate technology. An outline is presented of the progress in international dialogue and cooperation from the Dublin International Conference of January 1992 on Water and the Environment to the World Water Vision, presented to the Second World Water Forum at the Hague in March 2000, and the more recent discussions which form the background for the Third World Water Forum to be held in Kyoto in March 2003.