Just as important as availability of drinking water is lack of access to safely managed sanitation, and concerted efforts are being made in the area not only to manage treatment of wastewater, but also for its reuse, in an attempt to achieve sustainability and what is known as a circular economy.
One of the poorest countries in the world in terms of water availability and resources is Jordan.
This is due to several factors including Syrian refugees flocking into the country since 2011, and the geopolitical situation in the region,” according to Bilal Al-Sharif, a Program Manager at the Ministry of Water and Irritation Jordan.
It has partnerships in many projects focus on the water sector.
We have worked with others, like SwitchMed or the Switchers, in the water sector, where we helped them to map the possibility of financing these projects,” said Miguel García, UFM Deputy Secretary General for Water and Environment.
In the MENA region, nations can save up to €500 billion by switching from commercial to circular economies.
“Switching a system is not easy.
Christoph Sodemann, PR head of BORDA, told Egypt Today that they focus on saving and reusing resources.
“You get clean water for irrigation, and it can be combined with sludge treatment plant to create fertilizer in order to keep water in the area where it is used, and not just discharge it out.” CEO of Compost Balady startup Mark Oun explained his company’s focus is to use low-tech and low-cost approaches to be applied in rural areas throughout the Arab region, adding that the predominant challenge they face is the lack of regulation, which forces them to go around the standard approach of selling mechanisms “meaning to create valuable products of the resources recovered so people are encouraged to invest in them.” Raising Awareness of Water Issues The UFM’s García highlighted the importance of environmental activism over the past years in creating more awareness of water issues, and highlighted the climate change agenda whereby all Mediterranean countries are committed to the Paris agreement to develop their national policies.
Marina Presas, a science and technological communication journalist at EURECAT, noted that translating the language of science in a way that everyone understands is the biggest challenge facing journalists.