National Consultation Workshop successfully launches second phase of project in Palestine

Barcelona, 13 November 2014. The UfM-labelled project Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector successfully launched the national policy dialogue in Palestine — the first country to enter the second phase — during a first consultation workshop in Rammallah on 13 November.

Officially launched in May 2013, this regional project is jointly implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Global Water Partnership-Mediterranean(GWP-Med). Its core objective is to relieve key governance bottlenecks to mobilising financing through public private partnerships (PPP) in the Mediterranean water sector and to support the development of consensual action plans based on international good practices.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Secretary General Naser Tahboub highlighted the struggle of many countries in the region “to meet the financial requirements that water-related strategies and plans entail.” Given the apparent “lack of sound governance frameworks for absorption of available funding” additional financial and managerial resources, especially from the private sector, need to be considered.

The first National Consultation Workshop in Palestine brought together key actors from within and outside the country’s water and wastewater sector to discuss governance issues relating to PPPs on water. The dialogue will help build a shared consensus on the main obstacles to private sector involvement in Palestine’s water sector. It will also identify concrete actions to overcome them, drawing from experience, tools, and practices found to be successful elsewhere in and beyond the region.