The meeting was co-chaired by France and Egypt and organized by JOHUD with coordination of the Ministry of  Water and Irrigation.

 

Stemmed from the fact that governments cannot work alone, civil society participants from around 60 organizations of the Mediterranean debated over urgent actions to tackle the issue.

In her welcoming speech, JOHUD's Deputy Executive Director, Eman Nimri, noted that meeting aimed at clarifying the contribution of civil society to enable the countries of the Mediterranean to cope with the current water crisis.

"We are important partners with our governments in their efforts to secure our precious water resources for all members of society and future generations. The Civil Society has accumulated vast experiences in assisting communities to deal with the crisis and to develop appropriate and local solutions. This is an offer of partnership with our respective governments, on the national as well as regional level," she noted.

 

Nimri cited JOHUD's experience with the local community as an example of how civil society organizations can play a vital role in facing water shortage.

"JOHUD works with people all over Jordan to improve water efficiency in local communities. I remember that during one of our community meetings a middle-aged woman, her name was Samira, stood up and said "I was never aware that my family and I can protect our water just by changing our habits in the household."

 

Another speech was made by the Director of  Water and Biodiversity Department at the French Ministry of Ecology and Energy, Judith Jiguit.

 

Jiguit cited the experience of France in involving the civil societies in addressing the water shortage.
"Through involving the civil society, we were able to better address the problem. The participation of the civil society allowed for a thorough understanding of the problem," she told participants at the meeting.

 

Other speeches at the opening ceremony were made by Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Jordan, Patrick Renauld as well as Chairman of the MIO-ECSDE and GWP-Med, Michael Scoullo, in addition to Ioannis Sibetheros, Special Secretary at the Central Water Agency of the Hellenic Ministry for the Environment, Greece (MED-EUWI).

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY

 

The meeting aimed at clarifying the crucial role that civil societies play in ensuring water is available, identifying the role of the civil societies as intermediary between the government and its people in the development of water policies, exploring ways of fostering networking, joint learning and strategizing plans, in addition to formulating proposal points that were later presented to the ministerial conference the next day.

 

To achieve such goals, participants formed four workgroups through which they addressed core themes of the water strategy that was later presented to the Mediterranean ministerial conference.

 

FINAL STATEMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

 

In its final statement, civil societies of the Mediterranean region recognized that their countries face a severe water crisis and that a strategy for sustainable water management is a must and a pre-requisite for enhanced efforts to ensure environmental survival. They also stated that governments cannot face the crisis alone, the fact that strengthens the role of these organizations as key partners with their governments.

 

According to the statement, participants underlined the need to enable the free flow of information and sharing of data to find solutions for problems that go beyond the means of any country or that concern cross-border water resources.
They also renewed their commitment to work in partnership with their governments of the region for the development and implementation of the strategy and look forward to the setting up of an appropriate mechanism to facilitate such a role.