6th EUWI Steering Group Meeting
Brussels, 17 May 2006

A. Work Programme 2006

MED EUWI carried on with the implementation of activities described in the Work Plan 2006.

Key activities for 2006 include:

• A Seminar on the Status of National IWRM Planning in North African Countries and Mauritania,24-25 January 2006, Rabat, organised by the government of Morocco, GWP-Med, UNEP-UCC and the African Development Bank.
• The continuation of the country Dialogue in Lebanon (started in 2005) and the initiation of a new (second) Country Dialogue process.
• A country status assessment on water supply and sanitation and on IWRM in the ten MEDA countries.
• Support of activities under the MED EUWI/WFD Joint Process, with particular emphasis on the identification of pilot river basins in the region and implementation of pilot actions.
• Capacity Building activities for decision makers in South East Europe on transboundary lakes. This is an activity that falls within the context of the Petersburg Process and Athens Declaration for transboundary waters in the Balkans.
• The organisation of a regional Conference on policy guidelines for waste-water reuse. This is an idea developed based on the need for further synergies and links between the various MEDA Water projects that are being implemented in the region.
• The organisation of a Euro-Med Water Directors Forum Meeting as well as related Working Group and MultiStakeholder Meeting/s.
• The promotion of synergies and coordination with other ongoing programmes and initiatives in the region like the Horizon 2020 Initiative to De-pollute the Mediterranean, GEF Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean, etc. Coordination will also be sought with other regional organisation like UNEP MAP, NAMCOW and ESCWA.

Greece is committed to continue supporting the Secretariat of MED EUWI for 2006. More actions may be included in the Work Programme 2006, pending on interest by partners and funding opportunities, with the subsequent budget modification.

In terms of budget, it has been broadly calculated for 2006 to a minimum 1.070.000 €. From these, around 990.000 € are secured to a large extent through the MEDA RMSU Contract funds. Discussions with MEDA RMSU and EC have considerably progressed and the funds are expected to be mobilized very soon.

B. Activities implemented during January to May 2006.

1. Seminar on the Status of National IWRM Planning in North African Countries and Mauritania, 24-25 January 2006, Rabat.

The Seminar on the Status of National IWRM Planning in North African Countries and Mauritania, was organised on 24-25 January 2006, in Rabat, by the government of Morocco, GWP-Med, UNEP-UCC and the African Development Bank (AfDB). AfDB was the primary supporter of the event.

The Rabat Seminar was attended by more than 220 participants from 17 countries. The Seminar:

• assessed the current status of national IWRM planning and the countries’ readiness to respond to the WSSD Target on National IWRM Planning,
• provided a platform among policy makers, technical experts and stakeholders for exchange of experiences on lessons learned and good practices on key IWRM planning issues,
• assisted in identifying priorities, challenges and gaps for the effective implementation of the national IWRM plans and to investigate ways to link them with financial resources.

The countries of focus were Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia as well as Mauritania being a member of the North African Ministerial Council on Water (NAMCOW).

Active discussions demonstrated the need for exchanging of experiences on how to advance IWRM planning. Moreover, how to effectively implement IWRM plans was repeatedly raised since the developments in this area are rapid and in most cases are not based on previous experiences. It was concluded that there is a need to enhance sharing of experiences between and within the countries on aspects of national IWRM planning as well as specific IWRM topics, aiming to assist in effectively responding to current and emerging water challenges.

Based on the Country Reports and the subsequent discussions, the Rabat Declaration was drafted, presented, debated and agreed by the participants. Among other, the Rabat Declaration mandated to continue effort and take initiatives to organise a series of follow-up meetings and dialogues where selected IWRM indicators and specific “roadmaps” towards formulating national IWRM Plans will be presented and discussed aiming for mutual benefits for the countries and the region in the process of preparing IWRM plans. The Declaration as well as the main outcomes were presented during a GWP event at the Mexico 4th World Water Forum.

2. Country Dialogues

- Coordination and working meetings with key collaborating agencies (including EC, UNEP-GPA and OECD) took place in Brussels, Athens and Mexico, aiming to prepare actions of the Country Dialogues. It was agreed that there will be two variations for the Country Dialogues ie. for small countries and big countries (based on GDP, population, etc).

- ToR for the financial assessment and strategies were drafted by UNEP-GPA for the small-country variation. This model will be used in Lebanon. ToRs for financial assessments for big-country variation will be developed mainly by OECD based on the FEASIBLE model used for other similar cases.

- Communications were made and informal meetings (Rabat, Mexico) took place between Greece, EC and Egypt for preparing the launching of the Country Dialogue Egypt, with the eventual involvement of OECD.

3. Joint Process between the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the MED EUWI

The Med Joint Process is aimed at making Mediterranean partners benefit from the principles, approach and experience of the Water Framework Directive and to improve integrated water resources management in the region. At technical level, the main aim has been to foster exchange of experiences and produce recommendations on specific thematic issues, for which 3 respective WGs have been set up to address each thematic topic (i.e. groundwater, water scarcity, rural development). Progress achieved as regards the activities of the 3 WGs, includes the drafting of positions papers and the organisation of specific regional technical meetings. For example and in particular regarding the Mediterranean Groundwater WG (MED-EUWI GW WG), a second draft report is being prepared and a second technical meeting was organised in Malaga, Spain, on 24 April 2006.

4. Capacity Building for Transboundary Water Resources Management in SEE

- The Work Plan 2006-2007 of the Petersberg Phase II – Athens Declaration Process was prepared. The activities foreseen include assessments, action plans, capacity building workshops and education materials.

- The 3rd Coordination Meeting of the Petersberg Phase II – Athens Declaration Process will be held on 29-30 May 2006, in Athens. The meeting will review progress achieved so far with regard to the process and will seek enhancing synergies in the field of integrated management of transboundary water resources in SEE.

5. Links with on-going/other processes and initiatives

- MED EUWI is directly linked and supports the Horizon 2020 Initiative to De-Pollute the Mediterranean. This linked could eventually be strengthened through the consequent Euro-Med Water Directors’ Forum Meeting in 6.

- An MoU between EMWIS and the MED EUWI has been elaborated and will be soon signed.

- Operational links are under consideration with the new GEF Strategic Partnership for Mediterranean Large Marine Ecosystems (2007-2010).

6. Administration

Modalities for the financial support to MED EUWI through MEDA-Water have progressed and collaboration with EC and RMSU-MEDA is reaching a successful setting. In this context, in collaboration with IME and the EC a detailed Work Programme for 2 years has been developed and agreed for the MED EUWI part of the RMSU MEDA-Water Project. Moreover, an “Organisation of Work” document is currently being finalised to cover practical issues of implementation and related modalities.

C. Next steps

1. Following up the Rabat Seminar and Declaration, the following activities are planned by the end of 2006 in collaboration with North African countries, UNEP UCC and the African Development Bank:
- Organisation of Training Seminars on IWRM Planning for administrators, decision makers and eventually stakeholders, in two countries of North Africa.
- Establishment of a North Africa Working Group on IWRM Planning consisting of up to 12 government administrators (2 per country) that will form a core-team for exchange of experiences and promotion of country activities within the process. The Working Group will follow all national Training Seminars and will have coordination meetings organized in conjunction.

2. Progressing with Country Dialogues, the following steps are planned:
- Coordination meetings in Lebanon and Egypt, involving also UNEP-GPA and OECD;
- Finalisation and agreement on the ToRs for small- and big-country variations.
- Implementation of activities in the ToRs

3. Progressing with the WSS and IWRM Assessment in the 10 MEDA countries: the ToRs will be agreed and work will start as soon as resources from the MEDA-Water budget become fully mobilised.

4. Regarding the MED EUWI/WFD Joint Process, next steps include:
- Finalisation of the first phase of the Med Joint Process, assessment and dissemination of results, discussion and lessons learned from work conducted so far.
- During the second phase of the Joint Med EUWI/WFD Process, which is envisaged to be launched soon and not later than autumn 2006, other relevant issues/thematic topics and priorities will be identified, taking into account the pressing needs of the Mediterranean region and new thematic Working Groups will be set up to address each topic identified. In addition, a Network of Mediterranean Pilot Basins will be established, aiming at sharing specific experiences and giving concrete examples of water resources management, based on the Water Framework Directive (WFD) approach and the regional conditions.

5. Progressing with Capacity Building on Transboundary Waters in SEE: two workshops are foreseen for early autumn 2006 (i) on Multi-Purpose Uses of Water, in Zagreb, organised and supported by BMU-Germany and (ii) on Management of International Lakes in SEE, in Ohrid, supported by GEF.

6. The Euro-Mediterranean Water Directors Meeting is planned for late October 2006, in Athens. The Meeting will be planned in cooperation, inter alia, with the EC and EMWIS. The Meeting will discuss priority issues of the Mediterranean water agenda and will have an emphasis on MED EUWI. The Meeting will also serve as a MED EUWI Working Group Meeting, signalling the ‘formalisation’ of the MED EUWI’s WG based on the decision taken during the Euro-Med Water Directors’ Meeting in Rome, in November 2005. Effort will be made to link this meeting with the Euro-Mediterranean Meeting of Ministers for Environment, planned for late November 2006, in Cairo, and organised by the EC and the Finnish Presidency to present and promote the ‘Horizon 2020’ Initiative for the Mediterranean.