Water Governance Programme for Arab States

Key water issues including socio-economic and environmental concerns, uncertainty due to climate change as well as conflicts related to shared water resources were at the forefront of discussions of the High-level Partners Meeting on Water Governance, which the League of Arab States hosted today.

The meeting brings together key stakeholders in the water sector, including Arab Water Ministers, high level officials as well as regional and international development partners to deliberate over two days the main challenges facing the water sector and the need for joint action to complement and strengthen ongoing work in the sector.

The Regional Bureau for Arab States of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP-RBAS) together with the League of Arab States organized the meeting to mark the official launch of its newest regional initiative, the Water Governance Programme for Arab States (WGP-AS). The programme initiated in January of this year, in Cairo aims to support regional efforts to improve the effective management and use of scarce water resources in Arab States by addressing socio-economic and environmental dimensions of water governance within the integrated water resources management context.