News

Irrigation and water management: EU project holds workshop on Water Users' Associations

08-05-2012

Twenty international, regional and local experts from seven partner countries last month took part in a two-day regional workshop on Water Users' Associations (WUAs), organised by the EU-funded project on Sustainable Water Integrated Management (SWIM) in Athens.
 
A press release said the workshop aimed to promote the sharing of experiences and best practices in the establishment and operationalization of such associations in the region, and to discuss and validate the findings of a SWIM Regional Assessment illustrating the range of experiences – both successful and less successful - in water users’ participation with regard to irrigation, complemented with specific case studies coming from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia. The Regional Assessment was conducted in cooperation with SWIM National Focal Points and involved relevant stakeholders.
 
Participants to the workshop included representatives of governments, WUAs, regional organisations and donors, in addition to non-governmental organisations involved in the establishment and empowerment of WUAs in the region.

Among the outcomes, the workshop identified gaps and concrete follow-up actions for the SWIM-SM (Support Mechanism) Project to undertake, including targeted capacity building and trainings in order to improve local water management and reinforce users’ participation in irrigation management.

Opportunities for networking between the countries’ representatives and international, regional and independent experts were also created.

The workshop falls under one of the four thematic pillars of the SWIM project involving enhancement of knowledge on ‘water governance at the local level’ with emphasis for the first year on experiences in Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) and irrigation management transfer for WUAs in the region.  
 
Sustainable Water Integrated Management (SWIM) is a Regional Technical Assistance Programme launched by the European Commission, with a total budget of approximately €22 million, to contribute to the extensive dissemination and effective implementation of sustainable water management policies and practices in the Southern Mediterranean Region.
 
The Programme carries forward the results achieved by two earlier EC regional programmes, SMAP (I, II and III) and MEDA Water. SWIM consists of two major Components, which are inter-related and complement each other: a Support Mechanism funded with a budget of €6.7 million and Demonstration Projects funded with a budget of €15 million. (EU Neighbourhood Info Centre)
 
Read more
 
Press release
 
Sustainable Water Management and De-pollution of the Mediterranean – fiche and news
 
Sustainable Water Management and De-pollution of the Mediterranean - website
 
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre webpage – environment
 
 


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