A parliamentarian session Saturday urged an international helpdesk to aid political cooperation on water legislation.

The session called on World Water Council (WWC) to establish a permanent parliamentary "helpdesk" to guide for enacting water and sanitation laws, sharing best global practices and water-related legislation, quickly answering urgent questions within 48 hours to 10 days and uniting all parties in a globally cooperative inter-Parliamentarian network.

The 263 parliamentarians from 57 countries, including Argentina, Angola, South Korea and Yemen, attended the session on the sixth day of the 5th World Water Forum in Turkey's largest city of Istanbul with the theme of "Bridging Divides for Water."

As water stress grows urgent, "more political will" should be devoted to advance the water agenda, said WWC Director-General Ger Bergkamp.

The 5th edition of the World Water Forum, attracts some 25,000 participants from all over the world, including governments, nonprofit groups, institutions and individuals, to promote ideas about conserving, managing and supplying water.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2009)