CAIRO – Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam on Monday launched “Cairo Call for Action” as a contribution from Cairo Water Week “CWW 2022” to the UN Climate Summit (COP27)’s proceedings as well as the mid-term review of the UN Water Decade Conference which is to take place in New York in March 2023.
The minister’s remarks were made during his participation in a key session titled “Political Dialogues in the Water Scarcity Countries to Achieve Sustainable Development Objectives” held as part of the second day of CWW’s conference.
The minister reviewed the water challenges facing Egypt which mainly depends on 97 per cent of its water needs on the Nile River in view of the water scarcity and decrease of rain amounts along with the negative impact of climate changes.
He also said that Egypt has fixed quota of the Nile River water which amounts to 55.5 billion cubic meters, underlining the decrease in the per capita quota from the Nile Water as well as the water poverty limits which amounted to 1,000 billion cubic metres annually.
Sewilam also explained that state’s policy to counter such challenges through several projects of water reuse, water desalination as well as importation of agricultural products as well as several initiatives such as “Water Adaptation and Resilience” that will be launched during COP27.
He also said Egypt has adopted a cross-border approach and intensified its co-operation with the Nile basin countries through several bilateral projects for water management, citing the digging of several underground wells and water stations with the aim of implementing the sustainable development objectives for the African states.
The minister noted that it is the first time that Egypt places the water issue in the heart of COP27 activities, calling on attendees to support Egypt initiatives for the management of water resources and outlining policies for water adaptation and resilience.
The fifth edition of CWW 2022 kicked off on Sunday in the presence of dozens of ministerial and official delegations and 66 international organizations from around 70 countries.
CWW takes place from 16-19 October and in many ways, provides a preparatory platform for COP 27 of UNFCCC, which will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh in November.
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