CEDARE Water Programme Manager, elected chair of the Global Water Partnership for the Eastern African Region
Global Water Partnership Eastern Africa Council elected, Prof. Khaled Mahmoud AbuZeid as Chairman, for two years starting April 2016. Prof. Khaled AbuZeid, Secretary General of the Egyptian Water Partnership, and Regional Manager for Water Resources at CEDARE, held several positions at the African level including, Officer in Charge, Technical Secretariat for North Africa of the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW), Member of the High level Panel for Shared Water Resources Projects of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) under the NEPAD and the African Development Bank, Team Leader for the Conceptual Design of the Nile Basin Decision Support System under the Nile Basin Initiative Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO), Ethiopia, Regional Coordinator for the project on Monitoring and Evaluation for the Water in North Africa (MEWINA), Team Leader for preparing the reports on the State of Water in the Nile Basin and the State of Water in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, and in the North Western Sahara Aquifer for 2012.
In addition to his work as a former Professor at the National Water Research Centre, he was the Team Leader for the Strategic Vision for Wastewater Reuse in Egypt until 2030, Vice President of the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development, Member of the Arab Water Council Executive Committee and the Board of Governors, and Team Leader for the preparation of the report on the Sate of the Water in the Arab Region for 2004 and 2012.
Eastern Africa Water Partnership includes so far nine national Country Water Partnerships including Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and Somalia. The Nile Basin Initiative hosts, in Entebbe, Uganda, the Global Water Partnership – East Africa secretariat provisional headquarters, and the city of Stockholm in Sweden hosts the Global Water Partnership headquarters since its creation in 1996.
The Chairmanship was transferred from Burundi to Egypt during the 4th Regional Council Meeting of the Eastern Africa Partners, in the presence of the Global Water Partnership Secretary General, 5 – 6 April 2016, in Entebbe. This meeting, which is held every two years, is considered as the Eastern African Water Partnership General Assembly meeting in which partners discuss projects, activities, programs and strategic outlines for the next two years. On the side of the Partners Council Meeting, the 21st meeting of the Regional Water Partnership Steering Committee for Eastern Africa was held, headed by Prof. Khaled AbuZeid. It was recommended to prioritize the strategic directions for action in the next phase, in five main areas, transboundary water security, food-energy-ecosystems and water security, climate change and water security, urban development and water security, and the 2030 water-related Sustainable Development Goal, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
The meetings discussed the ongoing projects and programme activities which were implemented by the Eastern Africa Water Partnership including the Integrated Drought Management in the Horn of Africa, e Water and Climate Development Program in East Africa, the training programme on Integrated Water Resources Management for Drought Risk Management and the training programme on International Water Law.
