Water Governance

Water governance remains a key challenge in the Mediterranean. Efforts of countries focus on improving policies making and action planning, institutional settings, law and regulation, enforcement mechanisms, innovative financing, application of cost recovery and polluter pays principle, etc. To achieve sustainable models of development, water must be mainstreamed into other sectoral policies such as agriculture, land planning and use, energy, industry, tourism and trade. Political will is key for making these happen. The importance of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, equity, poverty and rights, is increasingly recognized but is still relatively poorly tackled.

Following up work, outputs and impacts achieved in previous years, during 2017-2019 GWP-Med enganged in the Water Governance agenda through the following key lines:

Aimed outputs: Policy dialogue is facilitated and catalytic actions and demo applications are implemented for IWRM and WSS planning at regional, national and local / river basin level.

Progress markers:

1. Regional / Sub-regional institutions and political initiatives are assisted for advancing their water related strategy processes, including through Water-Food-Energy-Ecosystems Nexus (Nexus) and Climate Resilience approaches.

Partners: Regional and sub-regional institutions, regional stakeholders, donors. Indicatively: UfM, UNEP-MAP, RCC, 5+5 Western Med initiative, League of Arab States, etc.

2. National governments are equipped with tools (assessment, strategic choices, policy options, capacity building) to make progress on their national water and sanitation planning and monitoring in an integrated approach, including through establishing and advancing readiness for responding to Sustainable Development Goals.

Partners: Governments, local authorities, RBOs, water and other sustainable development stakeholders, private sector, donors.  Indicatively, key aimed beneficiaries include Ministry of Agriculture of Tunisia, Palestinian Water Authority, Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water, Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Mauritanian Ministry of Hydraulics, Ministry of Tourism and Sustainable Development of Montenegro, Ministry of Environment of Albania, etc.

3. Water financing / Private Sector Participation (PSP) stakeholders establish better understanding of related challenges, opportunities and options for ways forward by taking advantage of the national and regional platforms for policy dialogue offered; policy recommendations are formulated and are available for operationalization by key players (regulating authorities and private sector) leading to new synergies; pilot schemes are promoted and, eventually, tested.

Partners: Governments, local authorities, water and other sustainable development stakeholders, private sector, donors.  Indicatively, key aimed beneficiaries include Ministry of Agriculture of Tunisia, Palestinian Water Authority, Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water, Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Mauritanian Ministry of Hydraulics, Ministry of Tourism and Sustainable Development of Montenegro, Ministry of Environment of Albania, etc.

4. Stakeholders are assisted to improve their understanding and capacity on water integrity, transparency and accountability as means for improved water governance.

Partners: Governments, local authorities, water &other sustainable development stakeholders