Palestine: Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector project: Official launch of the Water Policy Dialogue

The first consultation workshop of the Water Policy Dialogue in Palestine, within the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) labelled project “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector” was held in close cooperation with the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), on 13 November 2014, in Ramallah. With more than 40 key stakeholders from the government, private companies and banks, research institutes and academia, media and the Civil Society, the workshop marked the official launch of the Policy Dialogue to be conducted by the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med,) within the period 2014-2015.

The Policy Dialogue will allow building a common understanding and a shared consensus on the main obstacles to private sector involvement in Palestine’s water sector and identify concrete actions to overcome them. These actions will be based on best practices and internationally recognised tools and will be included in the analytical report to be developed by GWP-Med.

H.E. Mazen Ghuneim, Minister & Chairman at Palestinian Water Authority referred to the ongoing water sector reform process aimed, inter alia, at improving water demand management in line with the development of water conservation, environmental and public health policies. He additionally highlighted the efforts made for growth and development and the role of the private sector in those. In his turn, H.E. Naser Tahboub, UfM Deputy Secretary General for Environment and Water, referred to the timeliness of the UfM labelled project aligning with the country’s current reform of the water sector and promoting peace and stability in the Mediterranean Region.

The project team, including the Coordinator of the Project at GWP-Med, Dr. Anthi Brouma, and the Lead Expert for the work in Palestine, H.E. Koussai Quteishat, presented the objectives and current status of the “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector” project in Palestine and the technical work to be conducted in the country, whereas PWA representatives shared insights from the ongoing reform process and the prospects for Private Sector Participation in water and sanitation. Building upon the feedback during both this 1^st workshop and a series of bilateral meetings with key stakeholders, the next Consultation Workshop, scheduled for February 2015, will aim at convening a larger range of stakeholders, and promoting further discussions on the findings of the technical work.

The launch of the Palestinian Water Policy Dialogue came soon after the Project’s 1^st Regional Conference that was organised on 28-30 October 2014, in Athens, Greece, in close collaboration with the EU funded “Sustainable Water Integrated Management-Support Mechanism” (SWIM-SM) Project. In continuation of the Regional Policy Dialogue set off during the launching of the Project in May 2013, the Conference set the ground for the sharing of experiences and best practices on governance and sustainable financing for the water sector. The Conference discussed, among others, the core findings of the first two Water Policy Dialogues conducted by GWP-Med and the OECD in Jordan and Tunisia, in the framework of the Project, and explored ways for taking the national findings forward into the wider Mediterranean region and beyond.

The next Regional Conference within the “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector” Project is scheduled to take place during the latter part of 2015 with the aim to reinforce further the regional dialogue and exchange of experiences by sharing the findings of subsequent national Policy Dialogues, including the one in Palestine.

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The National Policy Dialogue in Palestine is conducted by the Global Water Partnership- Mediterranean (GWP-Med) in collaboration with the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and within the framework of the UfM labelled project “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector” with the financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the GEF – UNEP/MAP MedPartnership programme. The overall project “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector” has been designed by GWP-Med and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Strategic partnerships with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the FEMIP Trust Fund (FTF) of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the GEF – UNEP/MAP MedPartnership programme and the Mediterranean Component of the EU Water Initiative (MED EUWI) have been instrumental in setting the project in motion and under effective implementation.