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Water Community Program to Promote Community Based Awareness
-In Israel, Palestine and Jordan, fresh water is a scarce and fragile
resource widely exploited, unequally distributed and suffers from a lack of
sustainable management policies.
-Depletion of the region main water sources is caused by:
* Deterioration of the water quality
* Limitations due to the region climate, geography and
hydrology
* Influence of the climate change.
-Because water does not recognise state borders and the water resources are
shared, sustainable management of water resources must include a region-wide
perspective and consider all people and communities in a fairly
manner.
-Prevention of water resources from pollution, improvement in the local
water supply and use in any given community will make more water available
for communities across the boundaries. Crucial changes in behavioural
patterns as well as simple technical solutions can best be established at
community level. Surveying and better understanding the water resources in
the area and striving to achieve sustainable use and a just regional water
allocation, are essential conditions for the establishment of a good
neighbourly relationship, beneficial to all people in the region.
- Good Water Neighbours (GWN) is the name of a regional project initiated by
Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) in early 2002 to foster
cross-boundary cooperation in sustainable water management and environmental
issues between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
| Project number | ME8/B7-4100/IB/99/0233-06 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject(s) | |||
| Geographical coverage | Palestine, Israel, Jordan | ||
| Budget (in €) | 703729 | ||
| Programme | SMAP | ||
| Web site | http://www.foeme.org/ | ||
| Objectives | The principal objectives are: -Promoting just and sustainable use of cross-boundary water resources by demonstrating the benefits of sparing water, fostering people-to-people information exchange, promoting common understanding on water resources both at public and policy levels, establishing dialog and cooperation on common water problem solving issues in Jordan, Palestine and Israel making thereby people of the region aware of their own water reality. -Raise awareness at community level as to their water reality: * Promote trans-boundary cooperation between the neighboring Israeli/Palestinian/Jordanian pilot communities to seek to advance common water problem solving issues. * Encourage public participation in water use efficiency, waste-water re-use and water equity issues by launching a region wide public awareness and dissemination program based on the results/experience gathered from the Partnering Community Programs. |
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| Results | -Results related to the 1st Objective: * Neighbouring Pilot Communities in Israel (5), Palestine (5) and Jordan (1) identified and enrolled * In each pilot community, a group of “Water Trustees” lead by a Field Researcher established as the local advocates/activists for change. * Awareness of each Community in water management promoted * In each pilot community, public buildings transformed into model water wise buildings using low cost water saving technologies * Three workshops on wise water use and water equity issues targeted at community stakeholders organised in each community. -Results related to the 2nd Objective: * Petitions concerning common cross-border water problems between each pair of neighbouring communities raised * Potential cooperative water projects between two sets of neighbouring pilot communities identified by way of conducting opportunity studies. -Results related to the 3rd Objective: * A 6-member Regional Community Water Forum (RCWF) established public awareness and participation in water management and environmental issues increased at regional level * Information/Communication material produced and disseminated * Three study tours completed one in the USA, one in Canada and one in the EU. * Visits of EU and US experts to Pilot Communities and meetings with local authorities performed. * Presentations of the project at major international fora made -Empowerment workshops targeted to local environmentalist activists in each country to address local and regional water problems conducted. |
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| Period | 22/12/2001 | ||
