The project’s overall objective is to help improve quality of life in the MENA region through the implementation of integrated, equitable and sustainable water resource management.

Most countries in the MENA region are chronically water stressed, a situation exacerbated by the impacts of population growth and climate change. This water scarcity is a result not only of physical water shortage, but also of a lack of good governance structures, high water demand, low levels of trust between different parties sharing the same water resource and limited institutional mechanisms for applying integrated water resource management principles in the region.

In particular, the project aims to:

• Act on the regional level, increasing dialogue and advocacy among 100 alumni on how integrity, transparency, accountability and corruption can be addressed in water resource management;
• Act on the inter-governmental level, raising awareness and fostering high-level political dialogue on water integrity among approximately 60 high-level officials
• Act on the national level, increasing knowledge among 100 water officials about tools to improve information flow and communication channels between decision-makers.
• Act on the operational level, improving the capacity of 100 mid-level water managers and other professionals to ensure integrity within their organisations.
• Act on the local level, improving the capacity of 100 local civil society representatives to demand transparency.

The direct beneficiaries are the people to be trained and mentored throughout the programme. In addition to training a pool of 25 trainers, the programme will train 500 water stakeholders (100 per target country) from the following target groups:

1. Regional level: high-level decision makers
2. National level: water officials in regulation, controlling and planning; students; private sector
3. Operational level: mid-level water managers
4. Local level: farmers’ organisations, water user associations, the media, women’s groups and other civil society actors.

Direct beneficiaries of the programme will also include the consortium partners. In particular, national partners, universities and research centres will be equipped with state-of-the-art knowledge on water integrity and skills to include modules of water integrity in their curricula.

The expected results are:

• Strengthened dialogue and advocacy at the regional level on how integrity, transparency, accountability and corruption can be addressed in water resource management, drawing on experience at the basin level, country level and local level for new and appropriate approaches
• Raised awareness and fostering of high-level political dialogue at the inter-governmental level on water integrity
• Increased knowledge at the national level about tools to improve the information flow and communication channels between decision-makers at different governance levels
• Increased capacity among mid-level water managers and other professionals at the operational level to ensure integrity within their organisations
• Improved capacity of local leaders and civil society actors at the local level to demand transparency and accountability in the management of water resources and services through various means, including information access, analysis and advocacy, to ensure participation in decision-making processes
• Enhanced knowledge based on water integrity in the MENA region at the global level

Information and photo source: https://ufmsecretariat.org/project/capacity-building-programme-on-water-integrity-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa/