Supraregional - Technical Cooperation in the Middle East - ACSAD
Urban development on the slopes of Mount Lebanon.
Source: BGR
Supra-regional Technical Cooperation in the Middle East
The largest part of the Arab population lives in arid to semi-arid areas. While the availability of water and arable soils are naturally limited, the pressure on these resources has grown enormously by high population growth rates encountered throughout the Arab region. Water scarcity, over-abstraction of groundwater and deteriorating water quality are common symptoms of this pressure. In large parts of the Arab region, a downright water crisis has manifested in recent years, characterised by regular water shortages in urban conglomerates and limited access of the population to clean drinking water. Also the limited arable lands are endangered by the intensification of land-use and by increasing contamination, degradation and desertification. This situation represents a limiting factor to the overall socio-economic development of the region and holds a considerable potential for conflicts at the national and international levels.
Besides its bilateral commitments in the individual Arab partner countries, the BMZ also funds cooperation activities with supra-regional partner organisations in the Arab region.
BGR’s supra-regional partners in the Arab region: ACSAD
The „Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands“ (ACSAD) based in Damscus, Syria, is a supra-regional organisation under the umbrella of the Arab League with 21 member countries in the Arab region.
The supra-regional project „Management, Protection and Sustainable Use of Groundwater and Soil Resources” between ACSAD and BGRstarted in 1996. The project aims at improving the methodological basis for an integrated management of the endangered water and soil resources in the ACSAD member countries. It focuses on the development and regional dissemination of technical management instruments and guidelines which are pilot-tested in cooperation with national partners from the member countries (e.g. in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Gulf Coast States, Palestine area, Tunisia and Morocco).
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