Transcript Slide 1
Supporting Jordan’s
Water Scarcity and Drought
Preparedness and Mitigation Plan
DESA and UN Partners (ECA, FAO,
WMO, UNISDR, UNEP, UNCCD, UNDP)
Outline
1
Jordan Water Scarcity and Drought Challenges Overview
2
Existing Water Scarcity and Drought Programs and Gaps
3
The Capacity Building Program on Water Scarcity and
Drought Preparedness and Mitigation Plan for Jordan
Jordan is one of the most arid countries in the world
The Impacts of Droughts on Jordan
• Jordan is one of the most drought vulnerable countries in the
region.
• Droughts that occurred in all Arab countries in the last three
decades affected most of the Mashreq and Maghreb regions, where
Jordan locates.
• In Jordan, the most vulnerable to drought are the small farmers and
herders.
• The 1999 drought caused estimated only 1% of cereals and 40% of
read meat and milk harvested in Jordan .
• Also in Jordan around 30% of sheep flock died or was slaughtered
prematurely in 1997 drought .
• At least 70% of camel herd died due to the drought effect of the
period 1958 and 1962.
Jordan's Water Useage Allocation
80%
64%
60%
40%
30%
20%
5%
1%
Industry
Tourism
0%
Agriculture
Municipal uses
Uncertainty of Water Scarcity and Drought Management for Jordan
-Refugees challenge
Depiction of waves of refugees into Jordan
Uncertainty of Water Scarcity and Drought Management for Jordan
-Tansboundary Water challenge
The main existing water sources in Jordan are Yarmuk and Jordan Basins. But
Jordan does not have the control of the headwaters, which raises concerns about the
water resource security for the country.
Jordan’s main agriculture areas
Jordan’s two main water basin
Uncertainty of Water Scarcity and Drought Management for Jordan
-Climate change challenge
Drought frequency and duration Projection for Jordan under different climate change scenarios
Annual precipitation prediction under different climate change scenarios
Jordan’s Efforts Toward
a Better Water Scarcity and Drought Management Plan
• ESCWA initiated a study in 2004, which investigated climatic, water resource,
agricultural, environmental and socio-economic vulnerabilities, and tried to
establish the drought early warning and mitigation strategies in the ESCWA
region, citing Jordan as one of the case studies.
• FAO had funded a drought monitoring and mitigation planning in Jordan in
2005. The Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with FAO implemented a
project entitled t he drought mitigation strategy in Jordan “this project ended
mid of 2007.
• UNDP have made the effort to help Jordan to develop drought management
strategy and action plan since 2006.
• In January 2008, ICARDA hosted a workshop about the applicability of
guidelines of managing drought risk using preparedness plans and early
warning systems which included specific guideline for Jordan.
• GEF funded a project1 to identify priority research topics in combating
desertification, which directly generated <The National Climate Change
Policy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 2013-2020> for Jordan.
• Domestically, Leaded by Jordan Ministry of Environment, dozens of projects,
programs and policies2 have been established and implemented in Jordan.
Identified Technical Gaps
for Managing Water Scarcity and Drought in Jordan
• Regional Sharing of Drought Information
• Impacts assessment
• Monitoring and Early Warning Systems
• Drought Projection
• Standard Management Approaches
• Standard Mitigation Plan
Identified Implementation Gaps
for Managing Water Scarcity and Drought in Jordan
• The Drought National Action Plan (NAP) is still a new document that requires an
effective awareness program and a resource mobilization strategy. It can be
considered as a framework for action at the country level. A precise reference was
made to it in the National Agenda.
• The involved ministries and organizations do not include the actions stated in the
NAP in their plans or projects. In each ministry, there is no unit specialized and
responsible for drought issues, rather the responsibilities are scattered between
various sections.
• The ministry of environment’s role is limited to calling meetings and updating
strategies and policies concerning drought. There is a need to expand this role in
order to establish coordinate between various ministries so that the drought
action plans are included in the ministries plans and projects.
• The Metrological department is not a member of the steering committee.
• The Steering committee meets every 3 months. Members are absent frequently
and the meeting’s agenda items are not met within a timely fashion.
• The members in the steering committee changes frequently, which affects the
follow up and understanding of the agreed upon issues.
The Goal of UN-DESA <The Water Scarcity and Drought Preparedness and
Mitigation Plan> is:
To enhance Jordan’s water scarcity and drought management capacity and
assist Jordan to further develop and implement the strategies and plans.
The objectives of the program are:
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Rise awareness and enhance the national preparedness.
Improve Jordan drought monitoring and forecasting capacity.
Establish drought early warning systems(networks) in Jordan.
Develop and Adopt standardized drought management planes and mitigation
approaches for Jordan.
UN-DESA will achieve the objectives through:
• Foster high-level political forums, workshops, training sessions and regional
dialogs.
• Exchange of accumulated knowledge and best management practices (BMPs).
• Provide technical and capacity building support.
• Facilitate further coordination and cooperation with international and regional
initiatives.
Thank you!
Feel free to contact:
Sami Areikat,
Sustainable Development Officer
Water, Energy and Capacity Development
Branch
Division for Sustainable Development
UN –DESA
United Nations, Room S-2651
405 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7844
Fax. 917-367-3391
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org