UN-ESCWA High-Level Meeting to Promote Water Supply and Sanitation Policies

In cooperation with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and in partnership with the League of Arab States (LAS), UN-ESCWA is holding a high level meeting to “Promote Water Supply and Sanitation Policies and Related Organizational Reforms in Western Asia”, on 15 June 2008 at the LAS Headquarters, Cairo, Egypt. The meeting will coincide with the second day sessions of the LAS Ministerial Meeting of Arab Ministers responsible for water resources. Participants in the meeting, which opens at 09:30 am on Tuesday 15 July 2008, include senior officials from UN-ESCWA member countries and ministries responsible for water supply and sanitation. This meeting will review the water supply and sanitation status in the UN-ESCWA region; analyze current situation (gaps, challenges, constraints and opportunities); and propose policy options to expedite achievements of MDGs (Policy, institutional arrangements and proposed reforms). It will also focus on progress made by UN-ESCWA Member Countries towards targets 10 and 11, within goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), i.e. to halve the number of people without adequate water supply and sanitation by 2015. Participants will discuss as well the findings of the report entitled “Regional Assessment Report on the Status and Achievements of ESCWA Member Countries towards Improved Water Supply and Sanitation” prepared by UN-ESCWA. The aim of the meeting is to support political awareness and organizational change for improving Water Supply and Sanitation, particularly in relation to the proposed observance of 2008 as “the International Year for Sanitation”. The deliberations and discussions that will take place later throughout the meeting will also revolve around the vision and opinion of government officials on water related issues and will spin-off into the identification of a “way forward “plan of action for to improve water supply and sanitation in their respective countries. UN-ESCWA is one of the five UN Regional Commissions. It is comprised of 13 member countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Its objective is to support economic and social cooperation among the countries of the region and promote the development process in order to achieve regional integration.