Mainstreaming the outcome of the UN summit on groundwater in the Arab strategy for water security
Bisher Imam
Reginal Hydrologist for the Arab States, UNESCO
https://doi.org/10.5004/700106
ABSTRACT
The United Nations Summit on Groundwater was held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, from 6 to 8 December 2022. This summit was the conclusion of a year in which the focus was on groundwater (the hidden resource). In parallel, with the summit, the United Nations Commission on Water also held an expanded meeting that resulted in the issuance of a joint letter and call to action from the United Nations Commission on Water Resources/ Groundwater: The Hidden Resource for Sustainable Development. The message called on the countries of the world to enhance financing, data collection and exchange, human and institutional capacities, deployment of innovative technologies, and groundwater governance. Following the summit, and at the request of the Arab Ministerial Water Council, UNESCO Cairo Office, jointly with other regional agencies and academics, organized a series of regional consultations on groundwater management in the Arab Region with the objective of mainstreaming the Summit’s outcome in the implementation plan of the updated Arab Strategy for Water Security. This presentation will provide and discuss the outcome of the UN Summit on Groundwater, as well as the outcome and recommendation of the Cairo Regional Ground Water Experts Meeting (October, 2023) on the mainstreaming of the summit’s outcome in the Arab Strategy for Water Security along the following key priorities: Data and information; Capacity developmen; Innovation; Finance; Governance; Groundwater in Africa; and Strengthening the Science-Policy Interface.
Keywords: Groundwater; Financing; Data collection; Innovative technologies; Governance; Arab Strategy for water security; Capacity envelopment; Innovation
