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Water Development Financing Forum for MENA Cancelledألغيت

From Date

21-January-2025

To Date

22-January-2025

 

Kuwait City
  • Past event

Background:
The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), in partnership with the World Bank Group, are holding a high-level forum to address the urgent water crisis facing the Middle East and North African (MENA) region.

The two-day forum, ‘Water Development Financing Forum for MENA’, will take place on January 21-22, 2025, in Kuwait.  It will explore ways to enhance water management, promote water-efficient technologies, unlock financing for essential projects, and discuss relevant policies and regulations.

The forum will feature a keynote address by His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal, of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a prominent advocate for water sustainability and regional cooperation, and former Chairman of the United Nations Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation.

It will also bring together regional Water ministers, Heads of Arab Coordination Group (ACG) member institutions, WBG experts, and water sector leaders.

 

  • The countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are among the most water-scarce countries in the world. As these countries deal with the challenges of meeting increasing demands for water due to growing populations and economic growth, they are also faced with increasing uncertainty due to climate change and diminishing returns on what were conventionally considered least-cost options for increasing water supply: namely: surface and groundwater water resources.

 

Responding to these challenges, some of the countries are driving technological innovations and inspiring creative approaches to adaptation. New and improved techniques of water resource mobilization and harvesting and non-conventional water resources are increasingly needed to safeguard essential services and sustain economic growth and development.

The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) and the World Bank (WB) partnered together to address water scarcity in the region, promoting resilience and sustainability.