City of Wetlands Series | Episode 5: Wetland cleanersThe Arab region witnesses one of the highest rates of water scarcity globally and a very cr...

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City of Wetlands Series | Episode 5: Wetland cleanersThe Arab region witnesses one of the highest rates of water scarcity globally and a very cr...
City of Wetlands Series | Episode 5: Wetland cleaners

The Arab region witnesses one of the highest rates of water scarcity globally and a very critical freshwater situation. More than 200 million people live under conditions of water scarcity and 160 million under absolute water scarcity. The recent outbreak of COVID-19 revealed that over 74 million people in the region are at high risk of contracting the virus due to the absence of basic handwashing facilities with soap and water. As the demand for water is expected to increase, Arab countries need to adapt to address the combined challenges associated with the rapidly growing population, by more than one-third by 2050, economic development, environmental considerations and climate change. Hence, there is a need to accelerate the implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM) and innovate ways to manage competing demands on this valuable resource.

In order to meet the challenges and future requirements for sustainable development, the Arab Ministerial Water Council included the advancement of the IWRM principles among the objectives of the 2010- 2030 Arab Strategy for Water Security (ASWS) as a key element in water policies in Arab States. In addition, the presence of active policies, legislation and institutional frameworks for IWRM is one of the indicators of this strategy. All Arab countries are committed to the vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and most have developed strategies for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their national development plans, explicitly SDG target 6.5, thus committing to IWRM implementation as an important mechanism for achieving sustainable development and efficient management of water resources.
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/2021-status-report-implementation-integrated-water-resources-management-arab-region

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