Save the date! Conference: Water Governance in MENA and wider Mediterranean region

Jointly organized by MENA and wider Mediterranean region

• the Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector project
• the Water Integrity capacity-building programme for the MENA

under the auspices of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)
Supported by Government of Sweden

We are pleased to announce the “Conference on Water Governance in MENA and wider Mediterranean region – Strengthening integrity and financing for water security and sustainable development”, organised on 12-14 December in Barcelona, under the auspices of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

The Conference will be the result of a partnership between the “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector project” implemented by the GWP-Med, and the “Water Integrity capacity-building programme for the MENA” implemented by the UNDP-SIWI Water Governance Facility.

It will mark the strategic and operational synergy between the two projects, both of which are formally labelled by the UfM and financially supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

There is significant added value in this joint endeavour of addressing Governance & Financing together with Water Integrity, water governance being the common denominator.  Significant challenges still exist in the MENA and wider Mediterranean Region regarding governance and sustainable financing of water projects.  While promoting water integrity and fighting corruption commits institutions and stakeholders to the governance principles of transparency, accountability and participation, at the same time it creates a fertile ground for investments.

The two projects will bring together, for 3 days, targeted MENA and Mediterranean stakeholders from within and outside the water sector, including public authorities, civil society, donors and the private sector, with the overall purpose of:

• sharing and further disseminating good governance and financing experiences, insights, tools, lessons-learned and best practices,
• contributing to the development of the UfM Water Agenda, in particular to the governance and financing component, and
• advocating among political leadership to continue and enhance support to the enforcement of good governance practices.

More information on the Conference will be shared with you shortly by email, including an online registration form. In the meantime, we kindly ask you to pencil down the dates in your calendars.

We look forward to seeing you in Barcelona in December.

With best wishes on behalf of the organising team,
The UNDP-SIWI Water Governance Facility team, the GWP-Med Secretariat and IUCN-ROWA

The Capacity Building Programme on Water Integrity in the Middle East and North Africa works to improve transparency and accountability practices in water resources management across the MENA region, including in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia.

More information about the Project is available here.