The sixth edition of the Cairo Water Week (CWW) kicked off in Cairo on Sunday for five days from 29 October to 2 November, under the theme “Working on Adaptation in the Water Sector for Sustainability”. The week is organised by the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources.
A large number of ministers, official delegations, senior officials in the water sector, scientists, international organisations and institutes, civil society organisations, women, farmers, and jurists from various countries of the world are participating in the conference.
Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sweilam said in the opening session of the conference that in 2022, more than 110 million people on the African continent were directly affected by climate and water-related risks, causing economic damage exceeding $8.5bn, and 5,000 deaths were recorded, of which 48% were related to drought and 43% related to floods, according to For the World Meteorological Organization emergency events database.
“We cannot ignore the effects of wars on providing the population with the necessary needs for life in terms of water, food and electricity supplies, as is the situation in the stricken Gaza Strip. In addition to the consequences of the ongoing aggression on the occupied Palestinian territories, which claimed the lives of more than 7,000 people in just three weeks, the deterioration of humanitarian conditions and the loss of basic necessities for life make this number likely to increase significantly,” said Sweilam.
The minister explained that the theme of the sixth Cairo Water Week was chosen to build on the outcomes and recommendations of the fifth Cairo Water Week last year, “Water at the heart of climate action,” and reflects these challenges and works to draw the attention of the international community and mobilise its efforts to place the water issue at the forefront of global climate action.
Sweilam also noted that Egypt is a good example of countries that suffer from many challenges resulting from water scarcity and climate change, as Egypt comes at the top of the list of arid countries with the lowest rainfall rate that does not exceed 1.30 billion cubic meters annually, with almost absolute dependence on the Nile River by 98% which comes from outside the borders of the country.
The Egyptian Irrigation Minister highlighted Egypt’s measures to deal with water scarcity, explaining that the country has adopted a water policy based on the rational and sustainable use of its water resources with increasing reliance on non-traditional water resources, in parallel with a food policy that balances food production locally and importing it to provide food security.
Egypt is also implementing massive investments to raise the efficiency of its water system, through developing the monitoring and operating system at the Aswan High Dam and disinfecting and rehabilitating canals, drains, and lifting stations.
“The Sixth Cairo Water Week, whose activities we are witnessing starting today, comes as a preparatory event for the upcoming COP28, which is scheduled to be held within a month from now in the UAE, where the recommendations issued by the 6th CWW will be presented as inputs for the water activities in the COP28,” said Sweilam.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Minister of Irrigation opened the exhibition in which 23 Egyptian and foreign companies and entities participated to display their products and innovations in the field of water management, lifting pumps, water treatment and purification, water quality measurement, and surveying, with the participation of the National Center for Water Research, the Regional Training Center of the Ministry of Irrigation, the American University, and STEAM schools.
Moreover, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry affirmed in his speech during the opening session, his country’s belief in the importance of cooperation in transboundary water basins to ensure the fulfilment of the human right to water, which in turn is an indispensable condition for guaranteeing the human right to life.
Shoukry said that Egypt, as the downstream country in the Nile Basin, is most affected by the consequences of any non-cooperative practices in the basin, in addition to the climate changes that may occur in it, and therefore devoting effective cross-border water cooperation is for Egypt an indispensable existential matter.
