EU participates in launching 2nd Cairo Water Week entitled “Responding to Water Scarcity”

Ashraf Abo Arafe

Within the framework of the cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Egypt, Prime Minister Eng. Mostafa Madbouly launched today the 2nd Cairo Water Week (CWW) in the presence of Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aty, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, and Maciej Popowski, Deputy Director-General for EU Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, along with Ambassador Nasser Kamel, Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Yousef Bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeenthe, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), representatives of the League of Arab States, and experts in the water sector from around the world.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI), in collaboration with national, regional and international partners, is organizing this week’s events to promote water awareness, reflect on the most pressing water challenges, and take action to implement and manage.
The CWW 2019 activities will take place from 20 to 24 October, with more than 500 participants from different countries, which will be an opportunity for academics, scientists, policy makers, and water resources experts from around the world to present and discuss key issues, plans and actions related to responding to water scarcity challenges.
The opening ceremony began with the screening of a documentary film about the activities of the 1st CWW that took place last year, followed by a presentation on the main objectives and topics related to the reasons for the establishment of the CWW, as well as the importance of raising awareness of water in life and development.
“The water sector is a top priority for the EU, this topic is – and will remain – one of our main pillars of cooperation with Egypt. Investing in human capital and infrastructure will go hand in hand, while ensuring the presence of strong public awareness and public private partnership,” said Maciej Popowski, Deputy Director-General for EU Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, in his opening remarks.
“With more than EUR 500 million in grants, leveraging concessional funds of nearly EUR 3 billion in the water sector from European Financial Institutions, we have been responding to water challenges in Egypt since 2007,” he added.
Mr. Popowski stated that the EU co-funded water programmes extend over 12 Egyptian Governorates providing nearly 25,000 permanent jobs, and nearly 500,000 short term employment opportunities mainly in rural areas. This shall help in improving the quality of life for nearly 16.5 million inhabitants in Egypt by the year 2023.
During CWW, high-level meetings are scheduled to be held, including: Egypt-UfM Forum for Governance and Water Management, organized by the EU funded project “EU-WATER STARS”, the 2nd meeting of the OIC Water Council, the Presidential Initiative for Infrastructure in Africa, the Egyptian-Dutch Expert Committee on Water Management, as well as the 1st meeting of the Joint High Committee for Water and Agriculture.