The 5th World Water Forum was held in Istanbul, Turkey, from March 16th to 22nd, 2009. A variety of events throughout the week aimed to focus on just one overarching theme: “Bridging Divides for Water”.

The main theme of the 5th World Water Forum (WWF5) was Bridging Divides for Water. A further six themes made up the Forum's work programme, each theme had about four topics. Theme 2: Advancing human Development and the MDGs sees FAO, together with UN-Water as Coordinator).