UN-ESCWA Committee on Water Resources Convenes Eighth Session

In the presence of representatives of member countries, international, regional and civil organizations, as well as experts concerned with water resources, UN-ESCWA opened today the eighth session of its Committee on Water Resources, which convenes until Friday 19 December 2008. AlDafa Addressing the meeting, Executive Secretary Bader Omar AlDafa said in his opening statement “the issue of water resources stands among crucial ones in the region. It is one of the priorities of UN-ESCWA work. The region suffers from water scarcity, which increases because of rapid population growth and rising urban expansion; factors that boost demand over water resources”. Climate change and temperature increase will most probably incur great changes in the region, including the variations in net rainfall rate, the recurrence of draught, hurricanes, floods, and their subsequent repercussions, he added. Obeidani Also speaking at the opening session, Suleiman bin Saad Al Obeidani, Deputy Director General for Aquifer Development at the Omani Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources, and the chair of the seventh session of the Committee on Water Resources. Al Obeidani said that Oman had hosted the seventh Session of the Committee (Muscat, 18-22 March 2008), which tackled institutional and legal reform for the implementation of integrated water resource management in the UN-ESCWA region. This issue was among the most crucial issues in the session, given the increasing pressure on water resources in most UN-ESCWA countries. Al Obeidani expressed hope that the 8th session would continue the work of the 7th session, concerning the establishment of an official framework to discuss the issue of water on the national and regional levels, and review achievements, development, and challenges in the field, as well as other matters. Election of Officers Following the opening session, officers were elected. Deputy Minister for Water Affairs at the Ministry of Water and Electricity in Saudi Arabia, Ali Saad Al Takheis, was elected as chairman of the Session, while Ali Muhammad Ali Sobh, Director of the National Water Master Plan (NWMP) in Jordan and Ahmad Muhammad Fahmi Abdullah, consultant at the Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry in Egypt were both elected vice-chairmen. Ali Saif Al Maliki, director of the water networks at the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) was elected, for his part, as rapporteur. The topics of this session focus on the potential impacts of climate change on the water resources sector in the ESCWA region, possible adaptation measures, and dealing with those impacts by member countries. Participants will also review the progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and water quality management in the ESCWA region; follow-up on the implementation of the recommendations made by the Committee on Water Resources at its seventh session; and review the progress made in carrying out water resource-related activities under ESCWA programme of work between the seventh and eighth sessions of the Committee on Water Resources.