Fourth Arab Water Week 2017

The Arab Water Week (AWW) does not only provide an opportunity to enhance communication flows, synergies and the sharing of successful experiences, but as well, it will facilitate the creation of new partnerships that complement and maximize the impact of on-going work in this sector for the benefit of all countries in the region.

Water is increasingly becoming a binding constraint on Arab development. According to the Arab Development Challenges Reports by UNDP; available renewable fresh water resources per capita in the Arab world are among the lowest worldwide. Threatening levels of water stress exist in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Yemen, while significant stress exists in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. And since it is not yet possible to measure water quality globally, dimensions of safety, reliability and sustainability are not reflected in the proxy indicator used to track progress towards the MDG target.

Continued efforts are required to promote global monitoring of drinking water safety, reliability and sustainability and to move beyond the MDG water target to universal coverage. Here comes the role of ACWUA, ACWUA as a global center of excellence has served as a regional platform for international exchange of knowledge to provide best practices and capacity building to staff utility members, experts and professionals.