Regional Water Conference in Tunis

The Mediterranean conference on water was held in Tunis, on 15 January 2009. It was held in the premises of the Karthago Le Palace hotel and attended by more than 200 participants. The objective of the conference was to raise awareness of the Mediterranean countries to the issues to be debated at the forthcoming 5th World Water Forum to be held in Istanbul, on 16-20 March 2009.

The Mediterranean Institute of Water (IME) from Marseille is organising the Mediterranean Session during the 5th World Water Forum. In this endeavour, IME is assisted by PAP/RAC and the Blue Plan of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), GWP/MED and a score of other countries and institutions in the Mediterranean region. In preparations for the World Water Forum, several working meetings took place during 2008.

The Tunis conference was opened by Mr. Hachnmi Kennou, IME Director, who has mentioned, among others, the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) as the main vehicle for the implementation of actions on water management, and the PAP/RAC and Blue Plan as two major centres of MAP to be involved in this endeavour. Mr. Kennou also made a specific reference to the Mediterranean Strategy on Sustainable Development. Mr. Loic Fauchon, President of the World Water Council (WWC) and organiser of the WWF in Istanbul, made a strong reference to coastal development as a major driver for water demand in the region. He said that without successful coastal management successful water demand management would not be possible. The last speaker in the opening session was Mr. Nadhir Hamada, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Tunisia. He presented the achievements of Tunisia in water resources management.

Mr. Ivica Trumbic, PAP/RAC Director, chaired the first session on water governance. In his introduction he has spoken about the nature and definition of governance, emphasising the major characteristics of governance, with special reference to the recently adopted Mediterranean ICZM Protocol as a very good example of governance at the international level, consistently executed through preparation and implementation phases. During the same session, GWP/MED gave the overview of water governance in the Mediterranean countries. Other sessions dealt with the issues of water and climate change adaptation, water financing, and water demand management.