AFESD awarded King Hassan II Great Water Prize

Director General of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), Abdulatif Youssef al-Hamad, was awarded, here on Monday, the King Hassan II Great World Water Prize for his efforts and achievements in promoting cooperation in water management.

    The 100,000 dollar prize was awarded by Morocco's Prime Minister, Abbas el-Fassi, who is representing king Mohammed VI at the 5th World Water Forum, held in the Turkish capital on March 16 through 22, under the theme "Bridging divides for water".

    The awarding ceremony took place at the opening of the forum, and was attended by Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, Dutch and Japanese Crown princes, president of the World Water Council, Loic Fauchon.

    A documentary on Morocco's water management policy and infrastructure was screened at the ceremony.  

    Speaking at the event, el Fassi highlighted the new projects undertaken by the north African country in the field of water management, notably the construction of new dams and the launch of development projects aimed to rationalize water consumption and preserve hydraulic resources.

    For his part, Youssef al-Hamad underscored the pioneer actions taken by late King Hassan II in the field of hydraulic policies, adding that Morocco has become an example to follow in the field of water management.
 
    He recalled that AFESD has contributed to funding some 15 dams in Morocco with a total capacity of 7 billion cubic meters.

    Presented every three years, the award was established in 2000 jointly by the government of Morocco and the World Water Council in memory of late King Hassan II distinguished actions and encouragement of international cooperation and sound management of water resources.

    It is granted to institutions, organizations, or individuals in recognition of their outstanding achievements in any aspects of water resources.

    The 5th World Water Forum will address the means to preserve hydraulic resources, water management and the means to take up the challenges of water scarcity and climate change.

    Some 20,000 officials, public and private operators, associations activists from over 100 countries are expected to attend the forum whose first edition was held in Marrakech in 1997.

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The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) is an autonomous regional Pan-Arab development finance organization, ("the Fund"). Its membership consists of all states who are members of the League of Arab States.