Drought Risk Management in the South Med region
A training session on Drought Risk Management (DRM) and DRM Mainstreaming (DRMM), was held on 14-15 December 2016 in Athens, Greece. The training was organised by the EU-funded SWIM-H2020 SM Project (Sustainable Water Integrated Management and Horizon 2020 Support Mechanism 2016-2019). The event brought together stakeholders from the water, agriculture, irrigation and other water-intensive sectors as well as Non-Government Organizations from partner countries in the South Mediterranean region.
The risk of drought and water scarcity in the Middle East and North Africa is growing and expected to deteriorate in view of climatic and socio-economic changes. A recent NASA study finds that the recent drought that began in 1998 in the eastern Mediterranean Levant region, which comprises Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey, is likely the worst drought of the past nine centuries. Scientists reconstructed the Mediterranean’s drought history by studying tree rings as part of an effort to understand the region’s climate and what shifts water to or from the area.
The SWIM-H2020 SM Project aims to contribute to reduced marine pollution and a sustainable use of scarce water resources in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, [Syria] and Tunisia). Further to this training session, the project will be organizing a Study Tour and relevant Peer-to-Peer Sessions to help develop 100 activities in partner countries over the next 2.5 years.