Cairo Water Week 2019

Due to its success last year, a second Cairo Water Week will be held from 20-24 October. 'Responding to Water Scarcity' is this years theme. Academics, scholars, policy makers and water resources experts from all over the world will address key issues, plans and actions in relation to a proper response to the challenges of water scarcity.

Long cooperation history

The Netherlands and Egypt have a long history of cooperation on water, with the active involvement of governments, the private sector, knowledge institutions and NGOs. There will be an Egypt-The Netherlands Expert Panel on Water and several Dutch speakers are part of the conference programme. The CWW and accompanying Expo offer a great opportunity for the Dutch water sector to collectively present itself.

Visit the Cairo Water Week website for more information on the event.

Dutch representation

The Holland Pavilion will represent several Dutch organisations.
NWP Director Bianca Nijhof will be one of the keynote speakers on the first day (20 Oct.), at the plenary session:

09.30 - 12.00
Al Manara - The Theater

Achieving SDGs under Water Scarcity
Convener (s): Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation

Moderator: Dr. Pasquale Steduto, Chief of the Water Resources, Development and Management Service (FAO)

Session Content:

We know that in our Near East and North Africa Region, there is one major resource whose scarcity would prove the largest obstacle to the achievement of the SDGs: Water.
We know that in our Region, agriculture is the major consumer of water, and makes it is easy to realize the link between SDG6 – to ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’ – and the SDG2 on food security, which in turn links with the SDG1 on poverty reduction. It is evident through its links to food security, nutrition and health, rural development and growth, and the environment, that agriculture is a major driver in the attainment of the SDGs.

Meanwhile, further links can also be seen with energy where the nexus between food, energy and water is one of the classic examples of water dependency. Similarly, water is strongly related to SDG11, which focuses on sustainable cities and communities.
The list could continue to show the many water-related linkages across all of the SDGs, and it is with this awareness of strong dependency on water that this session has been elaborated. Water scarcity, in fact, poses an enormous challenge in the achievement of the SDGs and more broadly the Agenda as a whole. How should this challenge be addressed? Which ‘measures’ need to be implemented, or to be enforced, in order to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs under this particularly constraining condition?

The panelists of this session bring broad perspectives to respond to these questions. They will address different domains, spanning urban development, energy and agriculture, along with different spheres of interventions, including policy, institutions, investments and practices. Some evidence at country-level will be illustrated as well.
After the interventions by the panelists, the session will open to questions from the audience

Keynote Speakers:

• H.E. Dr. Bianca Nijhof, Director of the Netherlands Water Partnership, Board Member of the Amsterdam International Water Week, The Netherlands.
• H.E. Dr. Mohamed Abd-El Aty , Minister of water resources and irrigation,Egypt.
• Eng. Yousef El Aytan, ASG for Water Operation & Governorates Affairs/Water Authority of Jordan
• H.E. Mohamed Bin Jarsh Al Falasi, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE).
• Dr. Felix Reinders, President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID).
• Eng. Aly Abousabaa, Director General, The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas(ICARDA). • Mr. Manuel Sapiano, Chief Executive Officer at The Energy and Water Agency, Malta.

Translation: (English-Arabic-French)

Read the full programme