UNESCWA Executive Secretary Mervat Tallawy said that by 2015, it is projected that 82 million people in the Arab world will lack access to safe water and 124 million people will not be able to get basic water treatment utilities if urgent measures are not taken to improve the present situation. Tallawy was speaking at the opening of a technical cooperation meeting held by UNESCWA and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) at the Conrad Hotel, Cairo, from 4 to 6 September 2006 under the aegis of Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development Ahmed Al Maghraby. The joint technical project aims to improve water supply and sanitation services in the region, in collaboration with leading regional and international partners in this field. Speeches were delivered at the opening ceremony by German Chargé d'Affaires Hans-Werner Bosman, Deputy Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohammed Al-Atfi, Ms. Mervat Tallawy, and Minister Al-Maghraby. In her address, Tallawy said a number of characteristics set the Arab world apart in terms of water. According to a World Bank report, she said, 22 countries have a water ration per individual that is below the water poverty line, which is 1000m3 per individual. Of these 22, 15 countries are in the Arab region, making this one of the areas suffering the most from lack of water. Although the Arab region accounts for 5% of the total world population, its share of available clean water is less than 1%. Tallawy added that over 85% of Arab water is shared either through rivers or basins between more than one riparian state, an issue that is causing great conflict over the use of that water. The Executive Secretary went on to say that the seventh of the UN Millennium Development Goals related to achieving sustainable development in the environment stresses the need to cut in half the number of people suffering from lack of access to clean water or basic wastewater treatment by the year 2015, with particular attention to all levels of society, particularly the poor or marginalized segments. UNESCWA studies indicate that there remains a lot to be done in the achievement of Goal 7 especially in least developed countries, said Tallawy. In his opening statement, German Chargé d'Affaires Hans-Werner Bosman underscored the dire need for investment in the region’s water utilities if they are to meet the needs of the growing population. Referring to World Bank figures, he said there are plans to invest over US$ 130 billion in the water sector of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). “This investment, of which Germany is participating with $1billion through bilateral cooperation with Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, represents a major challenge,” said Bosman. The official assured those present that Germany would provide the support needed by partner countries to make the institutional change needed in the water sector in the same way it was done with the Egypt Holding Company for Water and Wastewater and the Yemen water reform programme. The speech of Egyptian Water Resources Minister Abou Zeid was delivered by Mr. Al-Atfi, who said the Ministry had a national plan for water resources up until 2017 that had been established with the participation of various ministries and authorities that utilize water. The plan was estimated to cost around US$ 30 billion, of which 60% would be for drinking water and wastewater, and the rest would go to other sectors such as irrigation. Poverty is another factor in the low rate of appropriate services that provide drinking water and wastewater. Of the 10 states in the Nile Basin, that include Egypt and Sudan, there are 4 of the poorest 10 countries in the world. Egyptian Minister Al Maghraby, under whose auspices the event was taking place, said, “The government has provided water and wastewater services throughout the country by: executing giant projects for transporting, purifying, and distributing water all over Egypt; operating stations that provide pure water in line with specifications to the tune of about 21 million cubic metres and investments that reached about 25 billion Egyptian pounds so that per capita water grew to 275 litres/day at a rate of 100% at the level of towns and villages.” The minister also noted that a total investment of 65 billion Egyptian pounds had been made in water and wastewater projects over the last 20 years, or about 140 billion pounds in today’s prices. The Ministry strategically plans to make ambitious future investments in this sector to provide complete water and wastewater coverage for all the country’s cities and villages. This has prompted it to adopt new strategies to modernize the national plan for wastewater in Egyptian villages. Al Maghraby added that the ministry has restructured the water and wastewater sector so as to: enable current utilities in their new economic structure to apply new standards of service and performance and encourage it so as to guarantee that the service reaches all citizens; enable current water and wastewater plants to recoup the expense; persuade the private sector to finance, manage, operate and maintain water and wastewater projects; and create favorable conditions for water and waster projects to be auto-financed in the future. The meeting on “Proposal for Formation of an Arab Water Utilities Network” will continue until 6 September. It aims to review the needs and options for the establishment of an Arab Water Utilities Network (AWUN). The AWUN vision is a self-sustainable, strong regional network of Arab water utilities providing benefits to members in improving their service delivery; making efficiency gains through performance benchmarking; developing and meeting modern technical standards; as well as capacity building and improving management of the very large investment programmes in water supply and wastewater throughout the region. AWUN could provide a regional advocacy platform for members to interact effectively not only with each other but also with governments, the private sector, as well as donors and international lending organizations to the mutual benefit of all concerned. A number of international experts, led by the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA), will present keynote papers on lessons learnt in establishing, managing and sustaining networks and go on to highlight the priority areas and relevant issues that are to form the basis for AWUN. Discussions in plenary sessions and working groups will enable participants to state their national and regional needs and articulate their expectations of AWUN. The discussions will be incorporated in a revised and consolidated background paper that will outline the proposed scope, aim, agenda, activities, financial sustainability and organizational structure of AWUN. Participants are expected to reach a common agenda on the way forward including recommendations on AWUN structure, membership and eligibility criteria, and guidelines for developing a Constitution to be adopted by the members. It is also proposed that a Steering Committee elected from the participants would take the AWUN concept forward, with the support of UNESCWA and GTZ, with a view to holding an inaugural launching meeting in April 2007.