UfM promotes the improvement of the water governance in the Mediterranean

Barcelona, 17 July 2012 – The Senior Officials of the 43 country members of the UfM recently approved the project entitled “Overcoming governance challenges to the mobilisation of financing for the Mediterranean water sector” promoted jointly by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Global Water Partnership- Mediterranean.

This regional project which will be conducted over a period of 3 years, aims to identify and provide realistic solutions to the lack of basic elements of a sound governance framework in many of the Mediterranean countries, including absorption capacity at both national and local levels, for the mobilisation of financing for the Mediterranean water sector. It will build on earlier work jointly carried out by the GWP-Med and the OECD in Egypt (completed), Lebanon (completed) and Tunisia (in progress).

The project will focus on assessing the opportunities and institutional and regulatory challenges arising from public-private partnerships (PPPs) in water infrastructure, as a tool in the hand of policy makers to managing water resources and financing services in an effective, sustainable and affordable manner.  Stemming from the assessment, it will provide a diagnosis of the key governance and capacity building bottlenecks that impede the financing and of the mechanisms to overcome them, in the form of a set of operational guidance and a compendium of good practices.

These key analyses and common denominators will lead to the endorsement – even as pilot cases – of the mechanisms considered most suitable to the country context, through country policy dialogues, and using participatory approaches.

The Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) is a regional partnership of the Global Water Partnership (GWP). It is a platform bringing together organisations working regularly on water issues in the Mediterranean region. It aims to promote and exchange knowledge on Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) through exchange of experience and knowledge, dialogue, and capacity-building.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental organization promoting policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. The OECD provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems.

PHOTO IRYNA TUZ © EU/NEIGHBOURHOOD INFO CENTRE