MedWet Project Dialogue of Water in the MENA Region: Closing Workshop of the Menasra dialogue

The Closing workshop of the MedWet Project Dialogue o­n Water in the MENA Region for Morocco took place o­n May 28 with the partipation of MedWet Coordinator Adnan Budieri and MedWet Policy Advisor Nejib Benessaiah. A report kindly provided by Nejib Benessaih is found below: " O­n 28 May  at the Wilaya of Kenitra, Morocco, more than 100 participants attended the National Workshop of the Menasra Dialogue including mayors, public administration representatives, farmers,  national and international experts. After a brief introduction by the Wali of Kenitra, the four Presidents of the Rural Communities of Menasra, Souk El Had, Ouled Ayed and Sid Lahmar undersigned the final Agreement o­n the wise use of water resources of the Menasra basin.

The afternoon session was chaired by MedWet Policy Advisor, Nejib Benessaiah and  was dedicated to discussion o­n the experience gained by the project of the dialogue as well as exchange about lessons from other dialogue processes.

Mr Maan Smadi of RSCN Jordan reported o­n the  dialogue carried out by the MedWet project Dialogue o­n Water in the MENA region in Al Azraq, Jordan;   Mr Mohamed Chaouni, Project Expert o­n the issue of legal aspects of the Menasra Agreement;  Dr Hans Wolter, senior consultant of  INWENT about the regional dimension of the dialogue processes and Mr Adnan Budieri, MedWet Coordinator about enhancing participatory management and ensuring stakeholders collaboration to achieve wise use of resources for agriculture and wetlands.

Just after the National Workshop and with the help of Mr Omar Aloui, head of the dialogue facilitation team, MedWet and INWENT organized y a travel tour for the Jordanian Delegation representing Al Azraq wetland dialogue o­n 29 - 31 May. The delegation has headed by Mr Smadi and Abdelfattah from RSCN Jordan and composed of Mr Al Mikdad, deputy Governor of Al Azraq, Mrs May Al Khattib and Mr Mushawish, Farmer Local Association and Mr Raed Bani Hani, Ministry of Environment. After a rich visit to the Menasra region and discussions with local authorities, farmers and associations, the delegation had also the opportunity to visit the ABH staff and premises and several large water infrastructures in the region of Fez. In Marrakesh the delegation was invited by the GTZ project supporting ABH Tensift and visited the 1st African Workshop o­n Ecology and Sustainable Development".

 You can read more about the project of Dialogue o­n water governance in agriculture and the interaction with wetlands in the MENA region here

The project is funded by INWENT (German Cooperation).