The third meeting of the WEFE Community of Practice (CoP03) was held in Amman between 16 and 18 January. In the sideline of this meeting, the “Establishing and Institutionalization of a WEFE Nexus Hub for MENA Region” Project was kicked-off. The meeting was participated by representatives of country members of the CoP from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) joined the CoP as an observer member, with the main goal of CoP is to facilitate a regional WEFE dialogue among member countries with the number of members is planned to be increased gradually. Developing and announcing the tools of the CoP, of which the WEFE Hub is planned for, is expected to facilitate promoting this collaboration and expanding partnerships. The importance of adopting a WEFE Nexus approach was highlighted as a tool for promoting climate change and resilient communities under armed crises, besides being critical for sustainable development. The regional dialogue can foster regional collaboration and facilitate the integration of relevant policies and practices across these interconnected sectors, as well as support evidence-based policy making, ultimately contributing to the sustainable development of the region.

In January, 2024, INWRDAM kicked-off the “Establishing and Institutionalization of a WEFE Nexus Hub for MENA” Project on the sideline of the third high-level WEFE Community of Practice meeting (CoP03) in Amman. The project is funded by a generous grant from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and Union of the Mediterranean (UfM) who participated in the meeting. The purpose of a kickoff meeting is to formally inform the project stakeholders that the project is launched, introduce its objectives, activities, and expected outcomes. It serves to introduce the team and helps them understand the project's requirements and background. The meeting included presenting the planned scope Jordan Pilot, and proposed pilot concept for Egypt. Moreover, participants presented other interrelated projects and activities to the WEFE Nexus Project. Regional collaboration is important at both technical and policy levels, between neighbors and neighbors of the neighbors. This type of collaboration is critical to be promoted, especially for countries of the (Southern and Eastern Mediterranean) SEMED region, as well as the Red Sea countries. The WEFE Nexus Project will introduce effective and efficient tools for both decision making and policy development fort the region, highlighting the importance of collaboration between different policy making entities that work on the integrated WEFE Nexus components at national levels. These tools will be developed considering the planned studies under the project that will map relevant policies and practices in the SEMDE region. The tools will enhance the outreach of the WEFE Nexus Knowledge and awareness within the local communities, practitioners, and policy makers through the WEFE Nexus Hub. The General Secretary of MoWI highlighted the importance of adopting the WEFE Nexus approach to manage the intercorrelated sectors between different Ministries in Jordan, given the fact that Jordan faces challenges regarding fresh water security due to scarce resources. This project is looked into with optimism towards a successful demonstration of WEFE Nexus approach in integrated resources management. A suggestion was raised to involve developing Guidelines for the WEFE approach within the Hub, with technical support from UfM for the general guidelines. Participants visited two locations for WEFE actions in Jorda; (1) one of the main WEFE Pilots established in Jordan by INWRDAM, located in Sama Al Sarhan, Mafraq Governorate, and (2) the location of the planned WEFE pilot for Al Wala, Madaba Governorate. These visits aimed at exchanging knowledge and experience about piloting adopted approaches, its outcomes, challenges, impacts, and areas of scalability and replication.