Hani Sweilam, Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Monday met with Marie Mathieu, the Advisor to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). They discussed the cooperation between the ministry and the UNDP, especially in the field of climate change adaptation, on the sidelines of the 6th edition of the Cairo Water Week.
Sweilam highlighted the existing cooperation between the ministry and the UNDP, through which they are implementing the “Project to Strengthen Adaptation to Climate Changes in the North Coast and the Nile River Delta”. The project is financed by a grant from the Green Climate Fund in cooperation with the UNDP, amounting to $31.40m.
The minister also emphasized the importance of the AWARe initiative launched by Egypt during the activities of COP27, which will contribute to meeting development requirements in Africa in the areas related to water resources and adaptation to climate change. He also invited the UNDP to support the initiative, which will provide training through the “African Center for Water and Climate Adaptation”.
Sweilam also met with Meike van Ginneken, the Dutch special envoy for water. They reviewed the results and recommendations issued on Sunday by the Egyptian-Dutch Advisory Council meeting, which was held as part of the week’s activities.
They also reviewed the field visit that was organized on Sunday for the Dutch delegation to visit the “Project to Strengthen Adaptation to Climate Changes in the North Coast and the Nile River Delta,” which is based on environmentally friendly technologies. They discussed proposals for implementing an early warning system for climate phenomena on the North Coast.
Moreover, they reviewed the most prominent files of existing cooperation between the two countries, such as the Joint Cooperation for Applied Research (JCAR) project. They also discussed proposals for studies on the environmental balance in the northern lakes and sand nutrition in nine coastal sites in the delta to confront the effects of climate change.
Sweilam praised the long history of cooperation between Egypt and the Netherlands, which dates back to the 1970s. He also praised their success during COP27 in placing water at the top of the global climate agenda. He expressed Egypt’s keenness to continue this coordination during the COP28 activities.
Additionally, Sweilam met with his counterpart, Sam Chiptoris, Minister of Water and Environment of Uganda. They discussed ways to enhance cooperation and develop joint relations between their countries in the field of water, especially in light of their distinguished relations.
Sweilam stressed the importance of working to develop bilateral cooperation relations between their countries and opening horizons for new projects that achieve development and prosperity for Uganda. He also suggested enhancing the exchange of experiences in the field of research and technical support to establish a water research center in Uganda and intensifying training courses for Ugandan technical personnel.
