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The Regional Centre for Training and
Water Studies of Arid and Semi-arid Zones
Gamal Shaker, General Manager, Regional Department and Rasha El Gohary, Associate Professor, Development and
Monitoring Department, Training and Human Development Sector, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation
W
ater resources play a fundamental role in social,
economic and environmental development and in
ensuring national security. The Nile Basin suffers
from a scarcity of water resources. This is mainly due to its loca-
tion in an arid or semi-arid part of the world, along with other
factors such as population growth, finite freshwater resources
and an uneven distribution and lack of water management
awareness. All these factors have severe consequences for food
security and desertification in many parts of the region.
There are calls from across the world for the better development of
national and regional training programmes and studies onwater manage-
ment in arid and semi-arid zones. Creating an integrated framework of
cooperation among regional countries in this field is considered one of
the main challenges at the national and regional levels. Strong support
has been provided by the Egyptian Government for the establishment
of the Regional Centre for Training andWater Studies of Arid and Semi-
arid Zones (RCTWS). RCTWS is a coordinating and consulting entity
employing the capabilities of universities (such as Cairo University, Ain
Shams University, Zagazig University and Assuit University), research
centres (such as the National Water Research Centre and its 12 related
research institutes, and the Academy of Science), and other governmen-
tal and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including
the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage,
the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), the
Institute for Water Education and New Generation Co., to
implement its activities and programmes. It is responsible
for water studies and annual plans for training and other
regional scientific meetings.
1
The MWRI training centre
Egypt is a unique county known for its extraordinary
dependence on a single water source – the River
Nile. The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation
(MWRI) carries out the planning, operation, manage-
ment, monitoring and maintenance of all the country’s
irrigation and drainage systems. In recent decades, the
rapid increase of water demand indicated the critical
importance of developing a plan for a strong, inte-
grated training programme and awareness campaigns
on water management in arid and semi-arid zones. It
was important to execute this plan on all levels includ-
ing planning, studying and implementation.
The Training and Manpower Development Unit,
the organizational predecessor of the MWRI training
centre (TC-MWRI), was established in 1982 to address
these crucial issues. In 1985 it expanded its scope of
services with assistance provided by the Professional
Development component of the Irrigation Management
Systems Project, which is funded by the United States
Agency for International Development. The training
centre is responsible for developing the skills of MWRI
staff members in accordance with national policies.
TC-MWRI provides specialized training to help some
6,000 professionals and 80,000 non-professional staff
members working in the fields of irrigation, drain-
age and other public works activities to upgrade their
skills and knowledge, leading to improved performance.
The training centre also organizes courses, seminars
and conferences for other countries at the regional and
international levels. The existing TC-MWRI has class-
rooms, modern laboratories, accommodation buildings,
a library, a computer lab, a language lab and other facili-
ties. It serves other governmental and private sectors as
well as MWRI. Three smaller branches are located in the
Middle Delta, Middle Upper Egypt and Upper Egypt.
W
ater
E
ducation
and
I
nstitutional
D
evelopment
Participants at one of the RCTWS training courses for Iraqi trainees
Image: MWRI