A panel discussion on "Water: Protecting Our Oceans" was held on Tuesday, 30 March. The panel examined the state of the world's oceans. The question addressed was "Can parliaments take action to redress pollution, over- fishing, piracy and degradation of the marine environment"? Ms Shope- Sithole and Ms Wenger attended the meeting. The panelists were Dr Wendy Watson-Wright, Executive Secretary, Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission and Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Jerker Tamelander, Programme Manager, Oceans and Climate Change, Global Marine Programme, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Dr Cherdsak Virapat, Executive Director, International Ocean Institute and Professor Mario Ruivo, former Vice-Chairman, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO. The moderator for the discussion was Dr Perapun Phalusuk, Chairperson of the Working Group on Water, National Assembly of Thailand. The panel discussion highlighted the following areas: