Towards the new Long Term Strategy for Water in the Mediterranean

• Advancing on effective water governance for integrated water resources management and water supply and sanitation ; awareness, technical and capacity building and coordination within administrative units and among stakeholders;
• Addressing water and climate change, through adaptation measures together with mitigation with emphasis, inter alia, on management of droughts and floods, mitigation of water scarcity effects and combat desertification;
• Optimizing water financing, water valuation and appropriate instruments, with emphasis on innovative mechanisms
• Water demand management and efficiency and non-conventional water resources.

This Egyptian-Dutch Water Conference aims to contribute to the development of the Strategy for Water in the Mediterranean as well as the December 2009 UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen. It will do so by addressing the four themes of the Strategy. The Conference also offers an excellent opportunity to relate to international policies (including those of the European Union, Climate Convention, World Bank, UNEP, etc.).

The Conference will be an open, multi-stakeholder event, though non-formal, in the process of the preparation of the Strategy. The latter is guided by a Water Expert Group within the Union for the Mediterranean.

The Conference will be held on 2 and 3 November, in Cairo, Egypt. It is jointly organised by the:
· Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
· Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation
· Supported by: the Egyptian-Dutch Advisory Panel on Water Management, Cooperative Programme on Water and Climate, and the Global Water Partnership-editerranean.

The Conference will be organised in conjunction with a meeting of the Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development (COMPSUD) and the Circle of Mediterranean Journalists for Environment and Sustainable Development (COMJESD).

More detailed information, including a registration form, will be available as of September 15.