Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sweilam stated that the Middle East and North Africa have 13 countries facing global water scarcity out of 17.
Sweilam highlighted the need for new policies to address this issue.
The minister made these remarks during a session with representatives from UNDP, the International Centre for Sustainable Water Management, and the International Desalination Association at the 7th Cairo Water Week.
He highlighted successful desalination efforts for food production in Jordan, Morocco, and Spain, stressing the need to learn from these examples and implement a regional project under the AWARe initiative to tackle water challenges.
The 7th Cairo Water Week focuses on five key topics: governance of shared water resources, enhancing community resilience, innovative financing for water security, climate change adaption, and developing climate-smart communities.
