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Page 1: ENHANCING NATIONAL CAPACITIES IN MANAGING SHARED WATERS 1.

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ENHANCING NATIONAL CAPACITIES IN MANAGING

SHARED WATERS

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Based on the three capacity building categories with proposed institutional arrangements

• (i) National capacity to negotiate shared water arrangements and to prevent and resolve water conflicts;

• (ii) National capacity to monitor & report of changes of the resources;

• (iii) National capacity in jointly manage the shared water resources.

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(i) National capacity to negotiate shared water arrangements & to prevent &

resolve water conflicts;

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I) HIGH-LEVEL ROUND TABLES• Negotiation for and management of shared water

resources is first & foremost a high-level decision. Therefore, as part of raising the awareness and enhance knowledge of shared water management and consequences of action & in-actions among political leaders & high-decision makers in- and outside the water sector, such “high-level round tables on shared waters” should be promoted regionally & at the country level

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II) TRAINING COURSES ON ENHANCING NEGOTIATIONS SKILLS AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION OF WATER DISPUTES

• A structured conflict resolution capacity program should be developed and tailored to the Arab countries – taking their specific site and situation into account.

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1. National leaders, diplomats, technical experts, and other concerned stakeholders should be included into this program in order to:

2. Enhance the countries’ governments and decision-makers ability to develop their own negotiating capacity.

3. Enhance cooperative management of transboundary water resources.

4. Enhance the individual negotiator’s ability in his/her field of responsibility to reach sustainable solutions related to shared water (disputes).

• Building legal capacity could be done within such a structured program since there is a tendency that enhancing the legal skills have been done at the expense of other (negotiation capacity) skills.

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III)ANALYTICAL CAPACITY ENHANCING PROGRAMS• Enhancing the analytical capacity of shared water resources management of

government agencies in partnership with associated research centres is an urgent & important initiative. Three specific areas have been prioritised:

1. In quantitative and qualitative terms, analyse and understand the status, dynamics, and trends of the water resources that are relevant for shared water management, especially mapping (in broad sense) and modelling of water sources basins (both surface and underground) – in such a way that impact assessments and (water) scenario-building is applicable in a planning and negotiation context.

2. Financial and economic water related instruments that are tailored to meet national and international needs, especially in a cooperative / negotiation context.

3. Increase the understanding & competence in development of compensation and leasing mechanisms that is applicable in the country specific contexts. Internationally, there are incipient efforts in designing compensation and leasing mechanisms – either in terms of monetary, energy, or even commodity compensation. Arab states should keep abreast of such work & understand the applicability of these mechanisms in their specific setting .

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IV- COMMUNICATION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE REALTED TO SHARED WATER CHALLENGES

• Water experts should be assisted to target their audience outside their own constituency, and get training in communication of scientific information. This should preferably be conducted as training courses in the nation – in order to tailor the course content to the specific conditions.

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V) STUDIES & SCENARIO BUILDING OF INVESTMENT IN RELEVANT SHARED WATER INFRASTRUCTURE

• All national water management planning is inherently national due to a national public (and private) investment. The irrevocable experience from other region is that the focus should be international; and that international organisations should support and actively involve national expertise in studying shared water infrastructure projects for mutual benefits.

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VI) ESTABLISHING OF A SEPARATE HIGH-OFFICE FOR COOPERATIVE WATER MANAGEMENT

• As outlined a High-Office that would deal with the water / security / cooperation/ conflict resolution nexus at for example, the Prime Minister’s Office should be given high priority to in almost all of the Arab countries. This is due to the rapidly increasing political, security, financial, humanitarian, and environmental significance of water.

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(ii) National capacity to monitor & report of changes of the resources;

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I) ENHANCING MAPPING AND ANALYTICAL CAPACITY ON SHARED WATER RESOURCES

• There is a huge potential for improvement of knowledge and understanding of existing water resources, especially shared groundwater and water quality changes and trends. Partnerships between government agencies and research centres at a different scale and degree than in the past should be promoted: In some cases, new institutional arrangements may be proposed, or just improvement of the synergy between the institutions.

• Application of rapidly developing technology within mapping (e.g., GEMS, GIS GIMS), sensoring, and modelling is a prime objective for these interventions.

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II)ENHANCING WATER MONITORING AND VERIFICATION CAPACITY OF WATER RESOURCES

• The above-mentioned mapping and analytical capacity must be combined with institutionalised monitoring & verification systems of ‘own’ and shared water resources.

• It is strongly recommended to establish water monitoring centres in order to optimise the resources – in most country, probably first, as a government agency in partnership with research institutions and subsequently, in a joint international efforts where standardisation and harmonisation of methods of collection and analyses of data as well as shared “modelling capacity”.

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Capacities needed to be developed in monitoring for SWR:1. Capacity to monitor, inspect & collect reliable SWR data.2. Capacity to design & implement monitoring strategies

for negotiating & managing SWR.3. Capacity to analyze, interpret, evaluate & correlate SWR

data within a developmental context. 4. Capacity to report, share & disseminate information on

SWR.5. Capacity to standardize methodologies, approximate

procedures & harmonize systems for SWR management.6. Capacity to enforce national water legislations & control

measures to improve compliance.7. Capacity to develop & operate national information

systems to exchange information with riparian countries.

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III) ESTABLISHMENT OF WATER RESOURCES EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS:

• As hydrological systems are increasingly and in some places exponentially exposed to different kind of risks, there is a huge potential for Arab countries in being alerted for remedial action by establishing “water quantity and quality early warning – early action” systems.

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(iii) National capacity to jointly manage shared water resources.

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I) FORMATION OF EXPERT GROUPS• Development of programmes for standardisation

of collection of necessary data, statistics, publications and maps as well as development of hydrological models and scenario-buildings would be one of the main tasks of these groups. Exchange of data between the nations could also be handled within such a context.

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II) FORMATION OF JOINT WATER COMMISSIONS (JCS)

• This is relevant when countries decide either to simply start some sort of cooperation of management of international waters, or implement a negotiated agreement.

• At an early stage, exchange of water related data and information could form the agenda in such commissions. Normally, as cooperation deepens, a more comprehensive mandate is given to such commissions.

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III) PREPARE FOR AND ESTABLISH BASIN ORGANISATIONS ON SHARED WATERS:

• There is little tradition for this in the Arab region, but even more reasons to do it: A careful and staged process should be adopted, and lessons should be tailored to the basin specific contexts.

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IV) STREAMLINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF WATER POLICY TO A SHARED WATER CONTEXT

• National water policies are normally not adjusted to the fact that the water resource is shared with another neighbour – and nations adhere to international agreements very often have contractions and ambiguities as well as gaps in relation to national policy and legislation. As management on shared water resources increases, a ‘technical assistance program on water policy review’ should be developed

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V) PREPARING FOR ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS OF SHARED WATER AGREEMENTS

• As mentioned, some would argue that this is a premature matter since the existence of any shared water agreements is quite limited. It is, however, important to reckon that part of the reason why there are so few agreements is that countries are not willing to enter into such agreements if there is no assurance of implementation: Enforcement of shared water arrangement is therefore important to know and understand.

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THANK YOU


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