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W
ater
E
ducation
and
I
nstitutional
D
evelopment
effects of the projects on the citizens of Nile Basin countries. National
forums will be established and evaluated within each state to foster
the contribution of civil society in the region.
Since its declaration in 1999, the NBI has fostered the role of
society by increasing people’s awareness of the requirements
for developing the Nile Basin countries. In this respect, the Nile
Basin Discourse has been established under the sponsorship of the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature to encourage
partnership between civil society organizations and governments,
especially as regards the NBI. In this context, the National Nile Basin
Discourse Forums have contributed to implementing a set of activi-
ties in Egypt with a focus on activating dialogue, raising awareness
of the importance of preserving the Nile water, and fostering the role
of civil society in enhancing peace and avoiding conflicts and wars.
Stakeholder participation
Inadequate dissemination of information, along with poor commu-
nication between government institutions and non-governmental
stakeholders, is unduly complicating the water distribution process
and constraining dialogue on water policies and programmes. While
the Government, through MWRI, remains responsible for the deliv-
ery of irrigation water to farmers free of a service charge, farmers
have no clear roles and responsibilities for contributing to the
planning and management of the irrigation system. It should even-
tually be possible for many water management issues to be resolved
directly at the local level between organizations representing water
users, without much government involvement.
2
Public awareness and economic incentives
Public awareness is weak regarding the current and growing water short-
ages and pollution problems facing Egypt. Illegal rice cultivation and
unauthorized agricultural expansion and fish farming often are blamed
on this poor appreciation of the adverse environmental and social impacts
of such actions, but the real problems are related to the economic status
of inhabitants, lack of enforcement of existing regulations and the fact
that farmers are simply responding to the economic incentives they face.
Effective public awareness necessitates actions that take into account
the complex interaction between economic status, enforcement of water
management regulations and the need for appropriate economic incen-
tives to affect individual and institutional behaviour.
3
MWRI human resources development
Training and human resources development constitute an
important dimension of strengthening institutional capac-
ity for the improved management of MWRI operations.
Achieving the objectives of comprehensive human resource
development is a long-term process, and training is one
component of such a comprehensive programme. Themain
objectives of this human resources development are indi-
vidual growth; integrating the objectives of individuals with
those of MWRI; attracting high-calibre employees; increas-
ing the clarity of career paths for engineers, researchers,
specialists and administrators; correlating career prospects,
training and individual development; and developing
objective performance appraisal and incentive systems.
4
RCTWS achievements
On a regional level, RCTWS has implemented many
events though bilateral agreements with the Nile
Basin countries which were funded by the Egyptian
Government to support cooperation. In addition, the
centre still participates in activities for the initiation of the
Global Network –Water and Development Information
for Arid Lands. It continues to welcome cooperation with
other donors in implementing courses for participants
from Nile Basin, Middle East and Arab countries.
RCTWS has also contributed to events in other coun-
tries in the region, including participation in the Global
Network for Water and Development Information for
Arid Lands meetings in 2010 and 2011 and the 8th
Governing Board Meeting at the Regional Centre on
Urban Water Management in Tehran in 2012. Side
meetings of the fourth Africa Water Week were held
at RCTWS in May 2012 for the discussion of methods
needed to support cooperation between Category 2
centres. These were attended by the Minister of Water
for Libya, the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization Officer for Category 2
centres in Africa and the Director of the International
Center for Integrated Water Resources Management in
the United States.
Participants at one of the RCTWS training courses for Nile Basin countries
Image: MWRI