Within the framework of its Water Resources Management Capacity Building Programme (Water-CaB) and in line with the relevant resolutions of the Fourth Session of the Islamic Conference of Ministers Responsible for Water, SESRIC organised a Training Workshop on “Water Governance and Integrated Water Resources Management in the OIC Member Countries” on 24-26 January 2023 through an online video conferencing platform.

The training workshop was provided by competent experts from the Turkish Water Institute (SUEN) and the Directorate General of Water Management under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye for the benefit of 112 experts and executives from the National Water Resources Authorities of 26 OIC Member Countries.

The main objective of the training workshop was to strengthen the technical capacities of the professional staff at the national water resource institutions in the OIC Member Countries by providing insights on how to analyse, formulate, and implement water policies, plans and programmes by using an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach. It also aimed to exchange views and experiences on overcoming the technical know-how gaps in the domain of water governance and discuss ways and means of increasing cooperation between the national water resource institutions.

The training workshop commenced with the opening remarks of Mr. Onur ÇAĞLAR, Director of the Training and Technical Cooperation Department at SESRIC, who highlighted the importance of water in sustaining life on earth, spurring socio-economic development, and attaining peace and security worldwide. He underlined that today millions of people living in developing countries do not sufficiently have access to safe and clean water to fulfil their basic needs. In order to handle the water-related challenges and problems, he emphasised the significance of strengthening cooperation and the technical capacities of the relevant national institutions working in the water domain by using strategic and sustainable approaches. Before concluding, he expressed his profound thanks and gratitude to the Turkish Water Institute (SUEN) and the Directorate General of Water Management under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye, along with ICESCO, INWRDAM and UNEP for their fruitful cooperation with SESRIC towards the organisation of this training workshop.

In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Mustafa Salih SARIKAYA, Coordinator for Training and Publications at the Turkish Water Institute (SUEN), began by thanking SESRIC for jointly organising this important training workshop for the benefit of participants from the National Water Resources Authorities in the OIC Member Countries. He underscored the problems caused by climate change, rapid demographic changes, misuse of wastewater and their impacts on different fields such as health, society and economics. Before concluding, he emphasised the need for enhancing cooperation among the OIC Member Countries through sharing knowledge, experience and best practices to confront water-related challenges.

SESRIC initiated its Water Resources Management Capacity Building Programme (Water-CaB) in 2015 with the aim of enhancing the institutional and human resources capacities of the National Water Resources Authorities in the OIC Member Countries. The Programme aims to play an important role in facilitating knowledge exchange, sharing of experience and best practices among the OIC Member Countries and thus contribute to the implementation of the OIC Water Vision. For more information on SESRIC’s Water Resources Management Capacity Building Programme (Water-CaB), please visit: https://www.sesric.org/cbp-water.php

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