222893e

WATER EDUCATION AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTeffects of the projects on the citizens of Nile Basin countries. Nationalforums will be established and evaluated within each state to fosterthe contribution of civil society in the region.Since its declaration in 1999, the NBI has fostered the role ofsociety by increasing people’s awareness of the requirementsfor developing the Nile Basin countries. In this respect, the NileBasin Discourse has been established under the sponsorship of theInternational Union for the Conservation of Nature to encouragepartnership between civil society organizations and governments,especially as regards the NBI. In this context, the National Nile BasinDiscourse Forums have contributed to implementing a set of activitiesin Egypt with a focus on activating dialogue, raising awarenessof the importance of preserving the Nile water, and fostering the roleof civil society in enhancing peace and avoiding conflicts and wars.Stakeholder participationInadequate dissemination of information, along with poor communicationbetween government institutions and non-governmentalstakeholders, is unduly complicating the water distribution processand constraining dialogue on water policies and programmes. Whilethe Government, through MWRI, remains responsible for the deliveryof irrigation water to farmers free of a service charge, farmershave no clear roles and responsibilities for contributing to theplanning and management of the irrigation system. It should eventuallybe possible for many water management issues to be resolveddirectly at the local level between organizations representing waterusers, without much government involvement. 2Public awareness and economic incentivesPublic awareness is weak regarding the current and growing water shortagesand pollution problems facing Egypt. Illegal rice cultivation andunauthorized agricultural expansion and fish farming often are blamedon this poor appreciation of the adverse environmental and social impactsof such actions, but the real problems are related to the economic statusof inhabitants, lack of enforcement of existing regulations and the factthat farmers are simply responding to the economic incentives they face.Effective public awareness necessitates actions that take into accountthe complex interaction between economic status, enforcement of watermanagement regulations and the need for appropriate economic incentivesto affect individual and institutional behaviour. 3MWRI human resources developmentTraining and human resources development constitute animportant dimension of strengthening institutional capacityfor the improved management of MWRI operations.Achieving the objectives of comprehensive human resourcedevelopment is a long-term process, and training is onecomponent of such a comprehensive programme. The mainobjectives of this human resources development are individualgrowth; integrating the objectives of individuals withthose of MWRI; attracting high-calibre employees; increasingthe clarity of career paths for engineers, researchers,specialists and administrators; correlating career prospects,training and individual development; and developingobjective performance appraisal and incentive systems. 4RCTWS achievementsOn a regional level, RCTWS has implemented manyevents though bilateral agreements with the NileBasin countries which were funded by the EgyptianGovernment to support cooperation. In addition, thecentre still participates in activities for the initiation of theGlobal Network – Water and Development Informationfor Arid Lands. It continues to welcome cooperation withother donors in implementing courses for participantsfrom Nile Basin, Middle East and Arab countries.RCTWS has also contributed to events in other countriesin the region, including participation in the GlobalNetwork for Water and Development Information forArid Lands meetings in 2010 and 2011 and the 8thGoverning Board Meeting at the Regional Centre onUrban Water Management in Tehran in 2012. Sidemeetings of the fourth Africa Water Week were heldat RCTWS in May 2012 for the discussion of methodsneeded to support cooperation between Category 2centres. These were attended by the Minister of Waterfor Libya, the United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organization Officer for Category 2centres in Africa and the Director of the InternationalCenter for Integrated Water Resources Management inthe United States.Image: MWRIParticipants at one of the RCTWS training courses for Nile Basin countries[ 109 ]