A MAJOR water conference is set to take place today, with the goal of compiling GCC countries’ contributions to the United Nations’ (UN) international water conservation themes.
The three-day event in Riyadh will be hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Environment, Water and Agriculture Minister Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al Fadley and organised by Bahrain-based non-governmental organisation Water Sciences and Technology Association (WSTA).
“The conference will discuss water issues and policies of common interest to the six GCC countries,” WSTA executive director Ali Redha Hussain told the GDN.
“Top keynote speakers and experts will share their knowledge and experience in the field of sustainability of water consumption.
“The event will review economic policies and strategies for the water sector in the GCC countries, while aiming to identify challenges and opportunities in implementing them under the prevailing socio-economic, environmental, cultural and political conditions.
“It will also be a platform to exchange case studies in the Gulf and the region on achieving economic efficiency and financial sustainability in the water sector.”
The UN marks World Water Day every year on March 22 with an aim to raise awareness of the global water crisis. The focus is on supporting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 - water and sanitation for all - by 2030. The theme last year was ‘Valuing water’ while this year it is ‘Groundwater: making the invisible visible’.
Conference chairman and Bahraini expert Dr Waleed Zubari said the conference would advocate for a paradigm shift in the management of water resources in GCC countries.
“Despite the extreme scarcity of resources in the region, GCC countries have done well in providing water for their ever-increasing population and rapidly expanding economic base and activities,” said Dr Zubari.
“However, we should move from the current emphasis on supply sustainability to consumption sustainability - with the core objectives being economic efficiency and financial sustainability of water services,” he explained.
The water resource management professor at the Arabian Gulf University had reiterated that water security in the GCC must be addressed through two approaches – the developmental and the risk-based approach. He had said that the countries should follow them in an integrated and balanced way to create an efficient and flexible water management system.
The GCC countries are situated in one of the most water scarce regions of the world and have one of the lowest per capita share of freshwater resources globally, with values much below the threshold of absolute water scarcity of 500 metre cube per year.
The conference is being sponsored by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and the Saline Water Conversion Corporation. It is also supported by UN organisations in the region.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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