Cooperation Projects

INWRDAM, in cooperation with both the OIC Secretariat, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Islamabad, Pakistan (COMSTECH), organized a meeting in Amman, Jordan during October 18-19, 2008 to launch the OIC Water Vision process. The meeting was funded by the Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (IDB, Jeddah). The meeting was attended by H.E. Professor Atta-ur-Rahman, Coordinator General of COMSTECH and H.E. Professor Anwar Battikhi, Secretary General of the Higher Council for Science and Technology, Amman, Jordan (HCST) in addition to more than tweleve esteemed water and scientists from OIC countries and OIC institutions.

The Mediterranean basin is one of the poorest regions in the world in terms of water resources. An increased water consumption rate for irrigation purposes along with a high urban population growth, have had an adverse effect on water resources. Thus most groundwater resources in the Mediterranean area are at risk of being exhausted through overexploitation. With limited renewable water resources, most countries of the area have been driven to reuse their wastewaters. However, specially in the east and northern Mediterranean regions, wastewaters are inefficiently treated or even re-used directly without treatment for irrigation or sanitary purposes, serving as a carrier for diseases or causing water pollution when discharged to water bodies. In the last decade, several water treatment technologies have been used in the region with little success on pathogens removal.

As a main partner in EMPOWERS and as an information network for water resource management in the Islamic countries, INWRDAM will host EMPOWERS Regional Information Programme.

The Euro-Mediterranean Participatory Water Resources Scenarios (EMPOWERS), is a regional partnership that aims at improving long-term access to water by vulnerable populations through integrated water resources development and management at the local level, with special emphasis on stakeholder involvement and empowerment.

EMPOWERS is a 4-year (2003-2007) EC-funded regional programme working in Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine.