{"id":3687,"date":"2017-12-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/mediterranean\/news\/celebratory-closing-conference-of-two-ufm-regional-water-projects-focus-on-sustainable-financing-and-integrity-for-water-security-in-the-mena-mediterranean\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T15:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:37:10","slug":"celebratory-closing-conference-of-two-ufm-regional-water-projects-focus-on-sustainable-financing-and-integrity-for-water-security-in-the-mena-mediterranean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/mediterranean\/news\/celebratory-closing-conference-of-two-ufm-regional-water-projects-focus-on-sustainable-financing-and-integrity-for-water-security-in-the-mena-mediterranean\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebratory Closing Conference of two UfM Regional Water Projects: Focus on Sustainable Financing and Integrity for Water Security in the MENA\/Mediterranean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[ Version fran\u00e7aise en bas ]<\/em><\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – <\/p>\n

The three-day Conference, hailed as timely and much needed by the participants, took stock of the outcomes of the two co-organising projects -as well as of SWIM-H2020 SM\u2019s ongoing work- and of how they have tangibly contributed towards overcoming challenges relating to Water Governance & Financing as well as Water Integrity in the region. Recommendations for further lines of work and next steps were also discussed and agreed upon during the 3rd<\/span> day of the Conference.<\/p>\n

\"Intro<\/span><\/p>\n

The Conference opened<\/span> with representatives from the UfM Secretariat<\/span> (Miguel Garc\u00eda-Herraiz, Deputy Secretary General, Water and Environment Division), Sida<\/span> (Esse Nilsson, Senior Programme Manager) and the European Commission<\/span>(Marta Moren-Abat, Policy Officer, DG Environment) welcoming the results of the projects and their contribution to the region\u2019s stability and prosperity. Representatives of the institutions leading the projects (Michael Scoullos, Team Leader, SWIM-H2020 SM<\/span>; James Leten, Programme Manager, SIWI<\/span>; Vangelis Constantianos, Executive Secretary, GWP-Med<\/span>) then provided brief welcoming remarks on the key challenges facing the region with regard to the issues addressed by the Conference and the work of the respective projects.<\/p>\n

The first day<\/span> of the Conference was devoted to finance-related dimensions of Water Governance. In the first session<\/i>, representatives from Lebanon, Tunisia and Palestine reflected on how the national dialogue processes under the \u2018Governance & Financing\u2019 project have contributed to sectoral developments and stakeholder commitments in their countries. Representatives from Morocco and Albania (countries not directly involved in the project) provided inputs on the current status of Water Governance in their countries,  challenges they face and the relevance and potential replication of the project\u2019s methodology in their specific national contexts.<\/p>\n

The second session<\/i> focused on how PPPs in the water sector could be enhanced and how the regulatory framework could contribute in that direction. Representatives of ministries, regulatory agencies and utilities from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia shared their experience and perspectives.<\/p>\n

Cross-cutting issues that often remain in the shadow of the mainstream discussions on water governance were tackled during the third session<\/i>. Experts and representatives of regional civil society organisations provided their insights on issues like the gender dimension of water governance, the access of deprived groups and communities to water services, the opportunities for renewable energy in the water sector and the benefits from a nexus approach, the role and potential of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the importance of Non-Conventional Water Resources (NCWR).<\/p>\n

The first day of the Conference concluded with a session on how to boost water investments in the region, which contained two consecutive panel discussions: one among private sector, international financing institution and government representatives and one among representatives of Commercial Banks and Association of Banks from MENA countries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Overview<\/p>\n

The second day of the Conference was devoted to integrity-related dimensions of Water Governance. The first session<\/i> set the scene with presentations from representatives of international organisations on the interlinkages between the 2030 Agenda and water governance, accountability and integrity management at the utility level, and collective action as a cornerstone for enhancing integrity.<\/p>\n

The second session<\/i> focused on examples to advance transparency and accountability in water governance. Presentations on the issue included the role of the Regulatory Agencies, the case of Jordan, the role of civil society and the importance of stakeholder engagement.<\/p>\n

After the lunch break, and during the third session<\/i> of the day, 25 mentees from Lebanon, Tunisia, Palestine, Morocco and Jordan that were trained under the Water Integrity Capacity building programme (2014-2017), presented the Water Integrity Action Plans they have developed.<\/p>\n

The fourth and last session<\/i> of the day began with a keynote speech on how human communities solve governance problems. It was followed by a facilitated panel discussion on how integrity can be a collective action solution towards good governance, with the participation of representatives from authorities and institutions from Lebanon, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Day<\/p>\n

For its third and last day<\/span>, the Conference was moved from the Meli\u00e1 Barcelona Sarri\u00e0 Hotel to the premises of the Sant Pau Recinte Modernista Barcelona, a declared UNESCO World Heritage site.<\/p>\n

The day started with a brief overview of the proceedings from Days 1 & 2 of the Conference.<\/p>\n

It was followed by a participatory and highly interactive Working Group Session<\/i> aiming to directly benefit from the expertise and knowledge of the attendees and explore strategic orientations on the way forward regarding the sustainable water financing and water integrity agendas in the MENA region. Participants were split into 5 groups, each to elaborate on recommendations to be addressed respectively to the following stakeholder categories:<\/p>\n

\u2022             Decision makers<\/p>\n

\u2022             Regulators & Water Utilities<\/p>\n

\u2022             Civil society & Academia<\/p>\n

\u2022             Private sector & banks<\/p>\n

\u2022             International Financing Institutions & donors<\/p>\n

Each group was then split into 2 sub-groups, in order to provide the participants with the opportunity to elaborate recommendations through both the perspective of sustainable financing and the perspective of integrity.<\/p>\n

The working group session concluded in plenary, with the facilitators of all sub-groups providing a brief 3-minute overview of what was discussed during the working sessions including the 3 key recommendations.<\/p>\n

The penultimate session<\/i> of the Conference included a panel discussion among senior representatives of regional institutions who provided their insights on options and priorities on how to best capitalise on the work and findings of the projects and commenting on the recommendations of the working groups.<\/p>\n

The closing session<\/i> started with the presentation of the draft Statement of the Conference to the plenary. The draft text:<\/p>\n