Cairo Water Week (CWW 2023), Strengthening WASH Systems for a Water Secure MENA Region

Dr. Khaled AbuZeid Senior Regional Water Resources Director (CEDARE) participated as a speaker in the session on “Strengthening WASH Systems for a Water Secure MENA Region” organized by SIWI and UNICEF at the Cairo Water Week, 2023.  Dr. AbuZeid gave a presentation on “Progress achieved and required in the Arab countries to achieve the water and sanitation Targets of SDG 6 by 2030”.  Dr. Abu Zeid noted that the population of the Arab region increased from 396 million in 2015 to 436 million people in 2020 with an increase of 40 million people in 5 years.  He also pointed out that in 2020 there are 19 Arab countries that fall below the water scarcity limit of 1000 m3/capita/year and 13 countries out of those countries are below the “Severe Water Scarcity Limit” of 500 m3/cap/year of renewable blue water resources.  He was also mentioned that the 2020 Average Proportion of Population using Safely Managed Drinking Water Services in the Arab Region was 83%, and about 73 Million lack safely managed Drinking Water Services, and by adding the expected population until 2030, 159 million people will need to be covered by safely managed water services between 2020 and 2030. The predictable cost for the corresponding Water Supply Investment is about 23.91 Billion $. On the other hand, the 2020 Average Proportion of Population Using Safely Managed Sanitation Services in the Arab Region was 60%, and about 174 Million people lack safely managed sanitation services. and it is expected that between 2020 and 2030, 296 Million people will need to be covered by safely managed sanitation services. The predictable cost for the required Sanitation infrastructure Investment between 2020 and 2030 is about 59.10 Billion $.