Mediterranean Dialogues
| Subject: International Relations
First conference on water sector funding and management
On 5 December, MedCities participated in the 1st Annual Conference on Water Investment and Financing, held by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Rome. The Conference is part of the deployment of the financial strategy for water, within the context of the UfM agenda on this issue.
In recent years, the Union for the Mediterranean has re-launched the political agenda on water in the region. Up to now, satisfactory results have been achieved, such as the approval of the abovementioned strategies. The task at hand at present is to start up the implementation stage of these documents, which is aimed at pinning down the planning exercise into tangible projects. The Conference sought to generate links between the private sector and the public administration, chiefly the ministries of the countries bordering the Mediterranean. The main challenges that were identified notably included the need to understand water policy as a comprehensive service, beyond the narrow view of the policy of infrastructures for supplying and treating water. This need, poorly resolved to date, especially in the countries of the southern shore, results in the inadequacy of built infrastructures for the water supply and sanitation service.
MedCities takes an active part in the whole process as a contributing member to the group of water experts in the UfM and thus giving voice to the local authorities of the region.
The next day, MedCities participated in the annual meeting of the Council of the Global Water Partnership – Med, to which it belongs. This organisation brings together various types of stakeholders involved in the water sector, and works to implement water projects in the region and promote political dialogue and technical exchange with regard to water.
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