Opening of the Sixth Forum on Integration Between the Water, Energy, and Food Sectors in Ramallah

Opening of the Sixth Forum "Integration Between the Water, Energy, and Food Sectors" in Ramallah City

CMWU's Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of the Palestinian Water Service Providers Union, Eng. Monther Shoblaq, participated in the opening activities of the Sixth Forum "Integration Between the Water, Energy, and Food Sectors" at the Millennium Hotel in Ramallah city, organized by the Palestinian Water Service Providers Union under the patronage of His Excellency the Chairman of the Water Authority Eng. Mazen Ghunaim.

This was attended by the Chairman of the Water Authority Eng. Mazen Ghunaim, the Secretary-General of the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association Eng. Khaldoun Khashman, the Executive Director of the Palestinian Water Service Providers Union Eng. Ali Odeh, the Special Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Ms. Yvonne Helle, and a number of mayors and their representatives, water and energy technology manufacturing companies in Palestine, and a number of organizations funding and supporting water sector development projects in Palestine.

In his speech, Eng. Monther Shoblaq welcomed the attendees, noting the importance of this forum, which aims to strengthen the capacity of service providers in Palestine to face challenges and work as a team, in order to improve the level of services provided to residents and devise creative solutions to achieve this.

Shoblaq also noted the importance of the forum's themes regarding achieving integration between the water, energy, and food sectors, practices related to non-revenue water, the mechanism for using modern technology to manage water losses, in addition to means of partnership between the private and public sectors to face the challenges faced by service providers, integrated water resources management, and other topics of interest to service providers in Palestine.

In his speech, Eng. Mazen Ghunaim affirmed that the greatest threat facing Palestinian water security is Israeli covetousness of Palestinian water, as the occupation and its practices on the ground are the main cause of the serious and worsening water crisis resulting from its ongoing control over our water sources.

He explained that the scale of the challenges surrounding the water sector has necessitated serious work to find strategic solutions to address the existing challenges, foremost among them working to strengthen technical capacities and achieve sustainability for the national institutions operating in the sector, and developing mechanisms to increase transparency and accountability, which requires combining the efforts of all relevant partners, focusing on the participatory approach while taking into account the increasing difficulties and challenges facing water service providers.

The conference gives participants and those interested, whether from municipalities or those working in the water and sanitation field, the opportunity to learn about the most notable stories and developments in this sector and to closely observe the most important experiences that have been implemented to develop the sector in scientific, technical, and other aspects.