Tackling the MENA region’s escalating water crisis, the Middle East Council on Global Affairs (ME Council), in partnership with the Blue Peace Middle East Initiative and Geneva Water Hub, hosted a high-level roundtable on water diplomacy and governance on Sept. 28-29 in Doha. The event was supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Qatar.
The two-day forum convened policymakers, scholars, and international experts to confront the region’s acute water scarcity, which is exacerbated by climate change, shrinking rainfall, overuse, and growing political tensions.
Environmental stress on water resources is compounded by diplomatic disputes, weak resource management, and ongoing conflict, threatening already vulnerable aquifers, lakes, and rivers throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Participants identified three core themes for advancing cooperation: water’s role in peacebuilding, the necessity of regional diplomacy, and effective water governance.
The roundtable’s overarching aim was to set a joint agenda, define shared policy goals, and examine holistic approaches to strengthen management and cooperation on transboundary water issues.
