The IPCRI and the 2005 World Water Week in Stockholm
(August 21 - 27 2005)
The Iraqi Minister of Water Dr. Abdul Latif
Rashid was among speakers at a seminar on
Water and Agriculture in the Middle East organized by IPCRI in cooperation with the
Stockholm International Water Institute as part of the World Water
Week from 20th to 26th August.
Thirty participants from six Middle Eastern
countries attended the closed session of the seminar which took
place on the first day of the Water Week- they included the chief
planner of the Israeli Water Authority, Mo Provizor; Dr. Amjad
Alliewi of the House for Water and Environment in Ramallah; Midhat
Rende, Deputy Director General of the Department for Energy, Water
and Environment at the Turkish Foreign Ministry; and Professor
Muhammed Shatanawi of the University of Jordan in Amman.
Alan Nicol, Head of the Water Policy Program at
the Overseas Development Institute in London, introduced the topics
of the discussion which included agriculture and food security, the
place of technology in improving water use, and the future for
regional cooperation.
On the second day of the seminar individual
speakers addressed the issues involved problem and the results of
the closed session were presented.
Besides the Minister from Iraq, speakers on the second day
included Ruth Jacoby, the Director General of the International
Development Division at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden,
Professor Tony Allan of London University and the director of IPCRI,
Dr. Gershon Baskin. Robin Twite, the Director of IPCRI's Water and
Environment Department acted as chairman of the seminar.
A number of innovative ideas were brought
forward during the seminar, such as proposals for more effective
regional cooperation and sharing of data. The extent
to which treated wastewater, the so-called gray water, can be used
in agriculture, questions relating to the pricing of water for
farmers, and the role of ”virtual water” were also discussed. A more
detailed repost will be available on this site by the end of
September 2005.
It is anticipated that IPCRI and SIWI, with the
support of the Swedish Government and other sponsors of this seminar
(among them UNESCO, the Greek Government, and the Global Water
Partnership) will be able to continue and extend their effective
cooperation in future years.