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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 7 August 2008 --
In partnership with the Environmental Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the Dubai-based International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (Icba), Egypt’s Arab Water Council recently launched the Arab Water Academy (Awa)
The academy is to be based in Abu Dhabi Awa aims to train leaders and professionals in water management from the economic, political, and technology perspectives
The academy will focus on the water issues affecting the Arab World These issues include water scarcity, rapidly dwindling groundwater reserves, and the growing gap between water demand and water supply
According to the Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Dr Mahmoud Abu Zeid, who also serves as the president of the Arab Water Council, the Middle East region has experienced significant increases in population This has led to an increased demand on current water resources and a greater need to explore the availability of new resources
It is noted that the Middle East and North Africa region has the lowest level of annual renewable water resources per capita and one of the highest levels of degradation of water quality and quantity
Additionally, the instability of the region combined with the fact that roughly 60% of the Middle East’s water flows across international borders encourage more careful security considerations as well as cross-border policy analysis
Initially, Awa will be hosted by EAD and will offer either intensive 1-2 week length courses or 2-6 month internship programs
Awa has received US$1 million from the Abu Dhabi government and US$300,000 from the World Bank The additional sum of US$200,000 has been promised by the Islamic Development Bank No tuition fees will be charged
