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THE TRAINING ON INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT HELD IN AMMAN
The Training on Integrated Water Resources Management, organized by UCLG-MEWA and hosted by Greater Amman Municipality, within the framework of the Global-Regional Coordination Project carried out by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM), UCLG, and Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), was held on March 30-31.
The "Global-Regional Coordination Project" was launched jointly by UCLG, GCoM, and ICLEI World Secretariats in an effort to strengthen coordination between organizations working on climate action and to increase the local input in the activities of GCoM. Within the scope of this project, a global mapping study was carried out by UCLG sections and ICLEI offices to determine regional needs and priorities for climate change.
Within this framework, UCLG-MEWA held a regional consultation event titled “Cleaner and Greener Recovery: Climate Priorities in the Post-COVID Era” to identify climate priorities, strategies, and policies as well as the needs for technical support in the Middle East and West Asia, with the participation of representatives of governments, local governments, associations, and NGOs. The feedback received as a result of the consultation paved the way for regional mapping of political and technical priorities for local climate action in the MEWA region. One of the technical priorities identified for the MEWA region was developing policies and means of implementation to overcome water scarcity in the region.
In this context, UCLG-MEWA has planned a series of events for cities in the MEWA region to build the technical capacities of local governments related to climate action, encourage cities to take mitigation and adaptation actions, and strengthen coordination and cooperation between local governments and other stakeholders.
The Training on Integrated Water Resources Management, planned as one of these events, was held with 18 participants, who are responsible for water management in their cities, from 8 Palestinian and 5 Jordanian municipalities. On the first day of the event, where basic concepts, strategies, plans, and opportunities for integrated water resources management were focused, good practices and applicability in Palestine and Jordan were discussed. From UCLG-MEWA, Bükre Türksoy, Coordinator of Department of Relations with International Organizations, and Reem Abusamra, Project Officer, made presentations on the activities of UCLG-MEWA and GCoM at the event. Also, Prof. Radwan Al Weslah lectured the participants on the basic features and dimensions of integrated water resources management specific to Palestine and Jordan.
On the second day of the Training on Integrated Water Resources Management, the participants made an on-site visit to the Ain Ghazal Waste Water Treatment Plant in Amman, Jordan. As part of the on-site visits, participants visited the site of the Al Zohour Green Triangle – Sustainable Urban Drainage Pilot Project, funded by Japan Supplementary Budget and implemented by UN-HABITAT to mitigate the risk of flash floods in Amman.
