ENG - UN CC:Learn

ARAB STATES
REGIONAL SPOTLIGHTS
The Arab Water Council and Integrated Water Resources Management in the Arab World 1
There is no doubt that the Arab Region is facing the most challenging water resources conditions in the world. The per capita
share of renewable water resources is currently under 500 m3/capita/year in about 70% of the Arab countries. These severe
conditions have lead many countries in the region to fossil groundwater exploitation, and sea water desalination, which eventually
translates into high water development costs and adverse impacts on the environment. More than 65% of the renewable
water resources are transboundary and originate outside of the region. About 50 million people lack access to safe drinking
water and about 80 million people lack access to proper sanitation in the Arab Region.
To achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of reducing by half the percentage of people without access to safe
drinking water and proper sanitation by 2015, the Arab Region will need to provide drinking water services to about 83 million
more people, and will need to provide sanitation services to about 96 million people, leaving another 83 million people without
access to drinking water services and 96 million people without access to proper sanitation services. Threats of water pollution
in the region can pose substantial constraints in rendering the scarce available water resources out of reach.
Recognizing these staggering facts, UNDP has been supporting countries of the region to achieve these targets, and within this
context, has supported the establishment of the first ever Arab Water Council (AWC). UNDP has partnered through AWC Interim
Technical Secretariat, the Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), to carry out a
comprehensive review of the status of developing IWRM plans in the Arab Region and to assess the capacity development
needs of countries to implement these plans. A regional programme on IWRM is evolving with a number of countries from the
region selected as pilot countries to either learn from their IWRM experiences or to asset them formulate IWRM strategies and
policies that would provide better water services and access to the different sectors of the community, thus bridging the gab
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between supply and demand in a cost effective manner.
Preserving the integrity of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden 2
In comparison with other semi-enclosed seas,the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region is relatively pristine from an ecological perspective.
However, critical issues pose threats to the region’s ecology. These include: maritime pollution caused by international shipping;
unregulated exploitation of shared fish stocks; wide-spread habitat destruction caused by uncontrolled coastal zone development
for cities and tourism; and the emerging challenges of climate change.
From 1995-1998, with $19 million from the GEF and additional co-financing of $17.61 million, UNDP-GEF, in cooperation with the
World Bank and UNEP, assisted the countries of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in developing a Strategic Action Programme to
address these environmental threats to the shared resources of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Since then, the institutions and networks
created by the project have achieved considerable success.Based in Jeddah,the Regional Organization for the Conservation
of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) has brought together ministries, scientists and civil society leaders
from Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen.
The project has been successful in establishing a network of marine protected areas, drafting a new regional protocol on biodiversity
and protected areas, undertaking new hydrographic surveys to reduce the environmental risks from shipping, developing a strong
partnership with the International Maritime Organization that has resulted in a series of training workshops on oil spill contingency
planning, and establishing new data collection centres to lead efforts at reducing the pressure on over-exploited shark stocks.
Throughout the region a core of newly trained scientists have carried out baseline environmental surveys on the main habitats
and species – mangroves,coral reefs,turtles and seabirds – and species-specific action plans have been developed.Finally,the project
helped develop a series of ‘model’integrated coastal zone management experiences for use at different scales, including a citylevel
version for Aden and a national coastal-scale version for Djibouti and
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Sudan.
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