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Trans-boundary NGO Master Planning of the Lower Jordan River Basin
The development of a NGO master plan for the Lower Jordan River Valley is advancing: WEDO/ FoEME successfully completed an international tender process with the contracting of Royal Haskoning DHV (RHDHV) that will lead a consortium of experts from wide ranging fieldsto maximize the adoption of a uniform methodology and facilitate integration at all levels and stages of the master plan.
Moreover, in 2012 the project has successfully completed a set of core activities.
· 3 consortium meetingsto introduce the partners, review work plans and discuss progress advancement.
· An extremely successful 'SIWI Middle East Seminar' was held in Amman, Jordan in September, 2012. It brought together approximately 80 high level officials from the region and from the international community. Representatives of all key Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli decision making bodies, ministries etc. relevant for the rehabilitation of the Lower Jordan River were present. A panel of representatives of other SWIM Demonstration projects showcased the overall aims of the SWIM Programme and aRiver Basin Organization Panel with representatives from the Danube, Ganges, Okavanga and Rhine River basins highlighted linkages to other basins.
· 52 media articles were published over the last year highlighting FoEME's efforts to rehabilitate the Lower Jordan River. This important wide-scale exposure provides the basis for strong international pressure on national decision makers to develop and implement a plan for the rehabilitation of the Lower Jordan River.
· The project is receiving an enormous amount of visibility in numerous meetings, conferences and presentations - in academic institutions and other venues – as part of the efforts to gain the support of public officials for the rehabilitation of the Lower Jordan River.
National Forum meetings are planned for March 2013 in Jordan, Israel and Palestine, to coincide with the RHDHV public consultation process in the region. Specific sections of the regional master plan will be presented in this occasion, as they are developed.
The project has developed a set of products that will be used during the implementation of demonstration and training activities. These include a software for the estimation of several parameters (evapotranspiration, yeld, water productivity, irrigation costs, etc), a Protocol for Wheat Phenology Measurements and a Farmers sheet for monitoring on-ground implementation.
Moreover, the 1st ACLIMAS Annual Meeting was organized on 12-13 December 2012 in Amman, Jordan, with the participation of more than 25 experts, and the representatives of SWIM-SM, the EU Delegation to Jordan and SWIM Sustain Water MED Demonstration Project. During the meeting the project’s progress and planned activities were presented and discussed including the shift of activities from Syria to Algeria.
As mentioned above the following products were produced and released:
The following training course are on-going or planned to take place in winter-spring 2013:
1. Training course on “Canopy Sensors and Measurements”, 25- 27 February, 2013, Maru research Station (NCARE), Irbid, Jordan (www.aclimas.eu)
2. Training course on “Principles and concepts of conservation agriculture”, 26-28 February, 2013, INRA, Settat, Morocco (www.aclimas.eu)
3. Training course on “Improving water productivity of the Mediterranean Agricultural Systems”, 12-14 March, 2013, INRA, Settat, Morocco (www.aclimas.eu)
4. Training course on “Climate smart agriculture: capacity building for extension services”, 19-21 March, 2013, LARI research station, Tal Amara, Lebanon (www.aclimas.eu)
5. Training course on “Conservation agriculture as an active measure to cope with climate change”, Maru research station (NCARE), Irbid, Jordan (www.aclimas.eu)
Moreover, five (5) field days with focus on different topics are also planned to take place in each Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco until end of August 2013
Aiming at coordinating effectively with other relevant actors, initiatives and projects with a view of promoting synergies and bringing added value to on-going efforts towards sustainable water integrated management in the South Mediterranean Region, a set of initiatives were undertaken by SWIM-SM.
These included the preparation of two databases - one for centres and organizations that provide training and capacity building activities relevant to the themes tackled by the project and another for on-going projects and initiatives - and the participation in events of regional importance, such as the Rio + 20 Summit (20-22 June 2012, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil) and the Stockholm World Water Week (August 26-31, Stockholm – Sweden). In both events SWIM-SM was represented by GWP-Med, that serves as the project’s technical director.
A review is been currently undertaken for each of the PCs Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia with the aim to assess the status of development and implementation ofwastewater strategies, plan of actions and associated policies and suggest recommendations including on policyoptions to enhance the development and integration of wastewater national strategies into national water plans.
The reviews will be validated and discussed with relevant stakeholders in the framework of National consultations that are planned to take place in the coming weeks.
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