Dubai-Sana
The Fifth Arab Water Forum concluded its work today with the participation of Syria, where the latest technologies and innovations were presented in the Water Technologies Exhibition, focusing on the technology of converting air into water, which can solve the problem of water scarcity in the Arab world.
In a speech at the end of the forum, the Minister of Water Resources, Dr. Tammam Raad stressed the importance of Arab cooperation in light of the challenges facing the water sector in the Arab countries, the most important of which are unilateral measures by unfair and unfair upstream countries towards downstream and transit countries, which affects the reality of societies in economic terms. environmental and social.
Minister Raad pointed to the need to find solutions to the problem of water pollution because of its future impact on sustainable development and environmental life in the water sector, and to find alternative or emergency water sources.
Raad condemned all US and Western coercive measures that directly target the Syrian citizen with regard to drinking water, the economic reality, and the Turkish regime’s reduction of water imports in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and depriving the Syrian and Iraqi peoples of their fair shares of this water.
Minister Raad also met on the sidelines of the forum’s work, Dr. Ziad Khayat, Economic Affairs Officer at the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), and the importance of qualifying national cadres capable of negotiating based on international laws to face challenges and lead the water file in the next stage through cooperation with international organizations was discussed. and exchanging experiences in the water sector.
The forum lasted for three days with the participation of 600 delegates, officials, water experts, policy makers and ministers from Arab countries and discussed three main themes: Arab water security and cross-border cooperation in the field of shared water and water to maintain sustainable development. It included many discussion topics and various scientific and dialogue sessions.
At the end of the forum, the initial recommendations that resulted from the main and subsidiary meetings, discussion and dialogue sessions were reviewed. The final report of the forum will be issued soon, with an agreement to hold it annually and not every three years.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Arab Water Council and the International Committee for Irrigation and Drainage, and the winners of the Arab Water Prize were honored by the Arab Water Council.