Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sweilam and Loïc Fauchon — President of the World Water Council — inaugurated the activities of the 79th meeting of the Board of Governors of the council, which was held on the side-lines of the fifth Cairo Water Week that is scheduled to start on 16 October.
Sweilam expressed his happiness for the convening of the Board of Governors of the World Water Council in Egypt for the second time in its history and pointed to the existing cooperation between the ministry and the council since its establishment in 1996, placing water issues at the top of the global agenda and pointing to the representation of Egypt in membership of the board since 2019.
During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the water situation in Egypt and the challenges facing the water sector as a result of limited water resources, population increase, and the negative effects of climatic changes.
They also addressed the increase in temperatures and consequently the increase in water use in addition to the unexpected impact on the amounts of rain in the sources of the Nile, which prompts the ministry to take many measures and implement many projects to deal with these challenges.
Sweilam then explained that Egypt is organising the fifth Cairo Water Week under the title ‘Water at the Heart of Climate Action,’ and the water activities within the upcoming UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) to work on highlighting water and climate issues at the global level.
Moreover, he invited the World Water Council to support the international initiative for adaptation in the water sector to climate change.
He also stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation between different countries of the world, especially developing countries, to face water challenges at the global level.
