LOC21:21
18:21 GMT
CAIRO, Jan 16 (KUNA) -- The Arab League has managed to attract necessary
international funding for the water management projects in the Arab region
envisaged in the integrated strategy for the water security, a senior official
said here on Monday.
The strategy, adopted by the Arab League's Economic and Social Council
(ESC) in September, 2011, will be tabled to the coming Arab summit, due in
Baghdad, in late March, 2012, for final endorsement," said official of the
technical secretariat of the Arab Water Ministers Council Dr. Jamal Jaballah.
He made the press remarks on the sidelines of the senior-level meeting of
water resources officials and fifth meeting of the advisory technical
committee of the ministerial council.
"The integrated water governance projects fall in the framework of the
resolutions of the First Arab Economic, Social and Development Summit in
Kuwait in January, 2009," he said.
"The ongoing meetings follow up the results of Kuwait summit and review the
progress made in luring financing for the water projects," Dr. Jaballah
disclosed.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Arab Fund for Economic and
Social Development (AFESD) agreed to finance several projects including one on
water uses in the agricultural sector.
The European Union has set aside six million euros for the integrated water
management projects in the Arab countries.
In Addition, Germany, represented by the German Agency for International
Cooperation (GIZ) pledged 7.5 million euros for an project to curb the climate
change impact on the water resources, Dr. Jaballah said.
The GIZ-funded project will be implemented in four southeast Mediterranean
countries, namely Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria over the coming six years,
he went on.
The Swedish water institute allocated 3.5 million euros for launching a
database on the water resources and the impacts of the climate change in the
Arab region in collaboration with the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid
Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) and the UN Economic and Social Commission for
Western Asia (ESCWA).
The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development pledged USD half a million for the water
governance projects, he added.
Dr. Jaballah noted that the ongoing meetings also coordinate the Arab
stances on, and the participation in, the Sixth World Water Forum, due to open
in Marseille, France, on June 12, 2012.
He condemned the Israeli occupation authorities for stealing the water
resources of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, south Lebanon and the
Palestinian territories.
The Arab countries are lobbying for an international conference, to be
hosted by the League under auspices of its Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby on
the Israeli illegitimate practices.
The IDB promised to offer USD 50,000 for the planned conference, he added.
The outcome of the ongoing meetings will be tabled to the meeting of
Executive Office of the Arab Water Ministers Council, due here on Wednesday.
(end)
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KUNA 162121 Jan 12NNNN