BACKGROUND
	PROJECT OBJECTIVES
	CURRENT STATUS

Two major activities under the Project were conducted over the past quarter: In May 2003, Training Workshops on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) were carried out in two selected pilot districts (Zifta and Ibrahimia). MWRI has long recognized the need to introduce the concepts of decentralized and integrated water management at the district level. Model districts were established in early 2003, but staff needed a better understanding of what IWMD means in terms of new job responsibilities, new working relationships among colleagues, new types of information sharing, and greater sensitivity to the needs of local farmers and stakeholders. There were four key training objectives of the workshops:

• To introduce and promote IWRM as a viable way of addressing water and water related challenges;
• To encourage and facilitate the role of IWRM in the development process;
• To develop a good understanding of the kind of enabling environment that is needed to make the IWRM concept work; and
• To provide an opportunity to learn about and put into practice tools and techniques for implementing IWRM concepts.

The IWRM Training Workshops were focused on training of three specific groups: MWRI managers, field engineers and technicians, and stakeholders. Participants were drawn from three governates: Qena, Sharkia,, and Gharbia and four districts. The total number of participants for the six workshops was about 120.

The second major activity under the project was the Seminar on Implementing Integrated Water Management in Egypt held at the Palestine Hotel in Alexandria, Egypt from 12 to 14 June 2003. Opening remarks were provided by H.E. the Governor of Alexandria, and H.E. Minister Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, Minister of MWRI, followed by keynote addresses provided by Mr. Paul Dreyer, DAI Chief of Party for the Integrated Water Management Project in the South Caucuses, and Dr. Ross Hagan, Senior Water Resources Advisor, USAID/Cairo.

The two-day Seminar focused on review and deliberation of several key policy papers and studies that have been undertaken by the Ministry’s Water Policy Advisory Unit (WPAU), and the team of consultants from DAI and IRG. Key topics included:

• Water allocation, data management and water policy integration;
• Water trading and measures to enhance private sector participation;
• Improving water quality management;
• Capacity building for integrated water management; and
• Moving from policy to action.
• The Seminar was considered highly successful in providing a framework for subsequent field-based implementation activities.