This morning I left a seasonably warm and sunny Stockholm for a yet much warmer, sunnier and drier part of the world – the Middle East. Currently I am sitting on the KLM flight from Amsterdam en route to Dubai, promising a nice (or maybe not so nice) 38 degrees, for a two-day conference entitled Water Investments World – Middle East 2009. The Middle East region and the oil wealthy Gulf states in particular has been in the forefront for deploying some of the new technologies relating to desalination and
other water technologies during the last decades. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the ultra-dry United Arab Emirates (UAE) has one of the highest per capita water consumptions of the world, despite the lack of almost any natural water resources. Thanks to large oil reserves the UAE has been able to manage high water demand through desalination.

The conference I am headed for will focus on issues such as investments in water infrastructure, the challenges facing the water sector in the region as a result of the ongoing financial crisis, and how to strike a balance between supply and demand in the region.  I have been invited to act as chairperson the first day of the conference, take part in a panel focusing on the regional outlook on natural water resources, and to deliver a key-note on “Demand management as an essential and effective water policy tool in the Middle East”.  My presentation will draw on one relatively recent SIWI policy brief:”On the Verge of a New Water Scarcity: A call for Good Governance and Human Ingenuity” as well as an article that I co-authored with Håkan Tropp as a background paper for the UNDP 2006 Human Development Report: "Meeting the Water Scarcity Challenges in the Middle East and North Africa". Hopefully it can stir some useful debate around the question of supply oriented approaches and more demand oriented approaches, much needed in at least part of the Middle East region.

The lion’s share of participants in the conference is coming from the private sector and public companies. It seems that I’ve been invited to provide a slightly different (and hopefully complementing) perspective, focusing on policy development, and the water challenges facing the Middle East region. The coming days promise lot’s of interesting and informed discussions about the future of the region’s waters as well as the possible scale of investments in its water sector.
 

by Anders Jägerskog, project Director, SIWI

The weather in Istanbul is improving. Still cold and a little windy but more sun than early on in the week. The spirit is still high but towards the end of an intense week participants are starting to look a little drained.

Despite going towards the end of the Forum, yesterday’s and today’s session on transboundary waters brought up a lot of emotions and resulted in intense discussion. Acting as a co-chair of the introducing transboundary session on basin management and hydrosolidarity it almost felt as if I was caught in the cross-fire. Seemingly semantic questions on whether to use terms such as ‘international waters’ or ‘transboundary waters’, ‘sharing water’ or ‘sharing benefits’ were areas for passionate debate. The organizers of the transboundary theme of the week – UNESCO and INBO – certainly face a challenge in summarizing the key results and outcomes. One does not envy them.

Last night I also chaired a session organized by the Palestinian Water Authority in which an option for an inclusive (including all five riparians – Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory) Jordan Basin future may look that, over time, will put all parties better off in terms of water availability. While the concept is thought-provoking and received positive responses from various parts of the basin the idea may well be hostage to political developments. This event will be followed up at a seminar during the World Water Week in Stockholm in August.

Today I talked at a session organized by the Euphrates Tigris Initiative for Co-operation (ETIC) about so called ‘track two’ initiatives and presented the Transboundary Waters Opportunity (TWO) Analysis that SIWI has been developing with colleagues in Namibia (PRA) and South Africa (CSIR). The presentation gained a positive response and the conceptual framework of the TWO analysis will be utilized in by the ETIC network.

Tomorrow - the final day of the Forum – coincides with the UN World Water Day with the theme – Shared water – shared opportunities where SIWIs Executive Director Anders Berntell will take part.
The days here start early and have a tendency to end very late. I do not foresee that this day will be any different. I am quite happy that it is only one day left…..
 

by Anders Jägerskog, Project Director, SIWI

It’s a cold rainy day here in the ancient city of Istanbul as the 5th World Water Forum heads into its second half.  The media has served a dual role as observers and participants in the proceedings, often injecting well-informed questions to spark discussions at main sessions and side events alike.

The Swedish Water House delegation has certainly gotten its share of attention. 

Readers of this morning’s edition of the Daily News & Economic Review – Turkey’s highly regarded English language newspaper - read of comments by SIWI Executive Director Anders Berntell at yesterday’s panel on Food, Water, and Energy. The article titled “Better Management of Water” also featured a prominent solo photo of Anders as he made his remarks. Earlier in the day, Anders recorded an interview about trading water with Radio Free Europe to be broadcast today at several times across most European countries. On Monday, Anders sat with a lead economic writer for The Economist to inform a major focus feature now in development at the London-based publication.
 

SIWI's Anders Berntell in the panel on Food , Water and Energy. Photo by Mehmet Kacmaz © NarPhotos

Dr. Anders Jägerskog arrived here in Istanbul late yesterday, and had barely stowed his gear when he sat for a lengthy recorded interview with the Middle-East correspondent for The World – the popular news and analysis radio program jointly produced by PRI for National Public Radio in the United States and by the BBC. Anders engaged the correspondent in a lively, wide-ranging discussion about the role that water plays in many of the region’s issues.

Four days down, four more to go. We expect the focus to sharpen as the forum moves toward its conclusion.

by Michael McWilliams, Communications Director, SIWI