Abstract
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries are located in arid regions with rare natural freshwater resources and increasing amounts of treated wastewater for reuse or recycling. Therefore, integrated water resources management (IWRM) is essential for water security in the GCC countries. Globally, IWRM is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals; and UN-Water is the primary international authority for monitoring the IWRM strategic development goal indicators, including indictor No 6.5.1. This indicator tracks the degree of IWRM implementation by assessing the four key components of IWRM: 1) enabling environment, 2) institutions and participation, 3) management instruments, and 4) financing. In this work, the current status of IWRM implementation in the GCC countries according to UN-Water indicators is presented and analysed to assess the level of IWRM implementation in the region. Also, lessons learned from the results of these analyses with respect to implementing the United Nations Strategic Development Goals (UN-SDGs) for IWRM are discussed for each of the GCC countries. Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and the UAE fall within the very high to high implementation categories. Sustaining momentum and fostering cooperation among the GCC nations could lead them to meet the global target. The findings of this work can contribute to augmenting current efforts toward achieving efficient and sustainable IWRM in the GCC countries. Keywords: Integrated water resources management; IWRM; GCC; SDGs; Water management.
