News & Events

The Dialogue convened high-level officials and scientists from all over the MENA region to reach a shared regional diagnosis of the state of water reuse and the key challenges to uncap the water reuse potential.

On July 28, 2021, ReWater MENA project organized the 5th National Learning Alliance (NLA) Consultation Dialogue on “Egypt 2030 Shared Water Reuse Strategy”, in partnership with the Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), which represents the fifth in a series of six national dialogues over the past two years. The NLA Dialogue aims to agree on the main outlines and elements of the strategy.

On June 28th, 2021, ReWater MENA project in partnership with the Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), organized the 4th National Steering Committee (NSC) Virtual Meeting in Egypt to discuss the progress made in "Egypt 2030 Water Reuse Targets". The objective of the meeting was to update the (NSC) on the results of the latest NLA meeting and to discuss the upcoming National Learning Alliance (NLA) Dialogue.

On June 14th, 2021, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), organized the 2nd ‘National Learning Alliance’ (NLA) in Lebanon in the framework of the ReWater MENA project. The meeting was organized by IWMI MENA regional office and took place online, gathering a large group of key stakeholders from the water, wastewater, and irrigation sectors in Lebanon.

On 23rd of May 2021, IWMI's ReWater MENA project team, accompanied by colleagues from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), conducted a field visit to Sarapium Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Ismailia to follow up on the activities implemented in the experimental site for feasible water reuse solutions at the site. The project tends to expand the treated wastewater reuse directly and indirectly in the region by developing reuse models and national plans for the safe use of treated wastewater in Egypt.

A delegation from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), accompanied by ReWater MENA project team, conducted a field visit to Sarapium Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Ismailia on May 31st 2021, to follow up on the activities implemented in the experimental site of Sarapium as part of ReWater MENA, which SIDA has supported since 2018; and to better understand the wastewater reuse context and agricultural practices in Egypt.

Water reuse is increasingly recognized as one of the key solutions to address water scarcity in MENA. To transition to a more and safer water reuse practices in the region, countries are increasingly interested in strengthening their capacities in the field. The International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), through the Mediterranean Agronomic Institutes of Zaragoza (IAMZ) and Bari (IAMB), together with partners, has recently organized an advanced course on "Wastewater Reuse in Agriculture", targeting specialists in water and irrigation management in the Mediterranean area.

With the aim of discussing the way forward for using the untapped potential of wastewater and drainage water in the MENA region, FAO-SNE, IWMI-MENA, WHO, ICBA and IME organized a series of Webinars, in collaboration with many distinguished scientists, leaders and influencers in the field of wastewater reuse (WWR).

The ReWater MENA project held The 4th Steering Committee (SC) meeting in Jordan on 7 April 2021, in partnership with the Royal Scientific Society (RSS). The project aims to expand safe reuse of treated wastewater in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, to cope with growing population, socio-economic development and climate change.