Middle East and Africa: USAID and IWA sign strategic partnership to advance water utilities

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Water Association (IWA) signed an agreement at the Fifth World Water Forum [on 20 March 20009]   to work together to increase access to clean drinking water and sanitation throughout the Middle East and Africa by strengthening water utilities and their regional associations. This partnership focuses specifically on access to clean drinking water and sanitation for the urban poor, water safety and quality management, leadership gaps and climate change.

[...] USAID and IWA will work to strengthen water utilities and their regional associations, such as the Arab Countries Water Utility Association (ACWUA) and African Water Association (AfWA), by:

• Providing information and expertise on business planning and programs and services;
• Brokering and facilitating global or regional Water Operator Partnerships, e.g. partnerships between mentor and recipient water operators;
• Working together to create a regional Future Water Leaders program; and
• Collaborating on and disseminating pertinent information such as reports, analyses, and resources.

IWA and USAID are working closely with ACWUA: IWA can provide resources and experts to build knowledge and capacity where needed within the association and individual utilities; USAID is providing strategic and expert resources to assist ACWUA in expanding its business plan for sustainability, supporting its knowledge management and communications strategy as well as facilitating the technical working groups on poverty orientation and utility management.

USAID and IWA will promote leadership strengthening for mid-level water and wastewater management professionals to build up the water and sanitation sector. USAID is promoting Middle East leadership in the sector by bringing twenty-five future leaders from nine Middle Eastern countries together to discuss issues that they will face as leaders in ten years time. IWA has a Young Professionals group and mentorship program that offers support and guidance. Both parties will collaborate on curriculum design and creating linkages among young professionals across countries and regions, as well as connections to senior mentors in order to build leadership capacity and networks in support of Future Water Leader career development.

Source: USAID, 20 Mar 2009

Dr. Fadia Daibes Murad: Palestinian water law and policy expert dies in car crash

Palestinian water law and policy expert, Dr. Fadia Daibes Murad, has died in a car crash on her way back from the Water Forum in Istanbul to Ramallah. “Fadia was an important defender of the water rights of Palestine women and men, so intelligent, and full of energy”, says Joke Muylwijk, Executive Director of the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA).

Read more.

Palestine: Japan, Palestinian Water Authority and UNDP/PAPP sign a 6.2 million dollar agreement to manage wastewater

The Government of Japan, in partnership with the Palestinian Water Authority and the United Nations Development Programme/Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People signed a US$6.2 million agreement on Monday, 16th March 2009, to launch the cross boundary wastewater management project in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). [...] The project will include the construction of three wastewater collection systems in the Jenin, Tulkarem and Qalqylia Governorates [serving 16,500 people], in addition to building the capacities of the service providers and the Palestinian Water Authority regarding waste management issues. [...] This project [...] will also bring new jobs to the Qalqylia, Jenin, and Tulkarem areas and create a platform for cross boundary cooperation between Palestinian and Israeli municipalities on environmental problems.

[...] “The Palestinian Water Authority has put in place with the Israeli Authorities a coordination mechanism were the wastewater generated by these three governorates is treated by Israeli water systems inside the Green Line and are following up on it with the Joint Water Committee”. Said Mr. Ahmad Al Hindi, Director General of Water Council.

[A]pproximately 35% of the population of the West Bank has access to wastewater network collection systems and there are only three treatment plants located in the Ramallah, Jenin, and Tulkarem districts. Due to old existing collection systems, sewage leakage reaches up to 50% in the areas of Tulkarem and Qalqylia. Poor wastewater management and lack of infrastructure development are one of the leading causes for environmental pollution and degradation of natural resources in the oPt.

Source: UNDP / Reliefweb, 16 Mar 2009

Palestine: water authority opposes construction of desalination plant

Israel has recently reconfirmed its intention to implement the decision of the Local Israeli Assembly for Organization and Building to give a piece of land from the Hadera area to build a desalination plant for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority. This decision was made based on a recommendation from the American, Israeli and Palestinian Joint Committee on Water. The news was first published by the Israeli media and then republished by Al-Quds on page 2 of its February 8, 2006 issue.

The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) [...] states that the Palestinian side is unwilling to purchase water at such a high cost from sources that are on the Mediterranean Coast and Jordan River, knowing that this water in fact partially belongs to the Palestinians but is inaccessible for them.

[In addition the PWA states that]:

• The Palestinian side has refused to discuss the issue in tripartite meetings and the issue has not come up in meetings of the American, Israeli and Palestinian Joint Water Committee.
• The Palestinian side refuses to resort to alternative water supplies, such as desalination, before regaining its rights to the water from the aquifers and the River Jordan.
• Israel’s desalination plans do not deal with the issue of Palestinian water rights.
• The PWA is astonished that Israel is publishing this news at the same time as its ongoing attacks on Gaza , which are an attempt to wipe out the Palestinian population living there, have demolished or cause extensive damage to building infrastructure, and have destroyed a number of water pipes.
• The PWA claims that the two desalination projects, one in Hadera and the other in Caesarea, are part of the Israeli strategy to cut back on its water use by approximately 380 million cubic meters by the end of this year and by 700 million cubic meters by 2015.

The PWA has requested that the American side comment on what has been published in the news on this issue, since it has been given the approval to do so by the Israeli, Palestinian, American committee.

Source: EMWIS, 16 Feb 2009

The above news story confirms one of conclusions of a December 2008 case study by Annika Kramer titled “Regional water cooperation and peacebuilding in the Middle East” that  “peacebuilding efforts involving Palestinians, Jordanians and Israelis soon hit a road block when it comes to actual cooperation in water resources management. This is mainly because water issues are characterised by major inequalities among the three parties and are highly
politicised”.