School News :: School of Engineering

School News

  • 07 - Feb
  • 2024

The Dean of the School of Engineering participates in the launch of the activities of the first Arab Forum on water scarcity and its management in arid and semi-arid regions, which was entitled “Innovation for Sustainable Water Management”


“The University Of Jordan" launches the activities of the first Arab Forum on water scarcity and its management in arid and semi-arid regions, entitled “Innovation for Sustainable Water Management"

“Obeidat": Water, food, energy and environment, Quartet of the Century

"United Nations reports": 50 million people in the Arab region lack basic drinking water

 

University of Jordan News - Zakaria Al-Ghoul - The University of Jordan launched today the work of the first Arab Forum on water scarcity and its management in arid and semi-arid regions, entitled “Innovation for Sustainable Water Management," which is organized by the School of Agriculture in cooperation with the Arab League for Education, Culture and Science. "ALSCO" and the Jordanian National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.

The forum aims to share Arab and international experiences in the field of water management under conditions of water scarcity to achieve the sustainable development goals, especially the sixth goal of the sustainable development goals, “Clean Water and Sanitation," by increasing the efficiency of water use to ensure that fresh water and its supplies are withdrawn in a sustainable manner from In order to address water scarcity and significantly reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity by 2030.

The President of the University of Jordan, Dr. Nathir Obeidat, said during the opening of the forum's activities, representing the ceremony's sponsor, the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dr. Azmi Mahafza, that we must follow a comprehensive and integrated approach to water management, including improving water management, setting regulations for its use, and providing financing. For the necessary infrastructure, through the involvement of stakeholders from different sectors and levels of government, and local communities as well, which enables us to develop effective water resources policies that promote the sustainable use of water, and ensure the management of water resources for the benefit of all.

Obeidat added that water, food, energy and the environment represent the quadrilateral; Water lies at the heart of adaptation to climate change, and a decisive link must be made between climate systems and the impact that humans have on those systems. As food is essential for people's livelihood, it is a limited and indispensable resource because of the well-being it represents for humans.

Obeidat pointed out that experts believe that there is a worrying picture related to political development and human survival, and it has become necessary for us to work together to try to move away from the cycle of danger, thirst and hunger. Therefore, there must be action by governments with the participation of company owners, associations, and environmental circles. It is young people and future generations who will pay the price, indicating that research conducted by the United Nations reveals that nearly half of the world's population will suffer from severe water stress by 2030.

Obeidat explained that the rise in energy prices led to an increase in the cost of food, which threatens the savings that people decided to spend on health care or education, likening all of this to a vicious circle that not only impoverishes its direct victims, but also contributes to increasing rates of poverty, hunger and marginalization, noting that the cost The human impact of the food crisis must be high, despite the factors and actions that would limit this cost, stressing that the world still needs to do more, and that the rich should not allow the poor to pay more of the price for their inability to address the effects of the actions they take.

Director of the Department of Science and Scientific Research at ALSCO, Dr. Muhammad Abu Darwish, said that water scarcity constitutes the greatest challenge to maintaining social, economic and environmental stability, and threatens water security, food security and prosperity in the Arab region, which is the most water-scarce. As 19 Arab countries out of 22 countries fall within the scope of water scarcity, pointing out that approximately 50 million people in the Arab region lack basic drinking water, according to UN reports.

He added that ALESCO, in cooperation with the University of Jordan, seeks through the forum to follow in the footsteps of the executive plan for the Arab Strategy for Scientific Research and Innovation, which the twenty-eighth Arab Summit held in Jordan in 2017 entrusted ALESCO with the task of following up on its implementation. Among its many implementation mechanisms, it called for developing scientific and technological cooperation between Arab countries in areas of common interest, in addition to promoting scientific research and innovation in the field of development and management of water resources, addressing the deficit in securing water needs and weak societal awareness of water issues, and transferring and localizing modern technologies to address water scarcity. A priority for scientific research.

For his part, the Dean of the School of Agriculture at the University of Jordan, Dr. Ayed Al-Abdallat, said that the challenge we face today requires all of us to search for radical and innovative solutions, and to think in a spirit of effective cooperation, which is what the School of Agriculture at the University of Jordan and ALESCO went to make this forum a window for dialogue. And exchange experiences, with the aim of developing sustainable water management policies in arid and semi-arid regions.

Al-Abdallat stressed, beyond any doubt, that the abundance of water is linked to prosperity and a decent life for all people on the face of the earth, and that its scarcity is linked to tragedies, wars, conflicts and famines, referring to World Bank reports which state that water scarcity currently affects more than half of the world's population, as Most countries today are placing unprecedented pressure on the water resources available to their people.

​Accordingly, Al-Abdallat continues that holding the forum comes within the framework of the commitment to strengthening Arab and regional cooperation frameworks in the field of water management in light of the challenges imposed on us by regional conditions of wars and conflicts, in addition to extreme changes in climate, as the forum discusses in a main topic “Innovation for water management." Sustainable Water", highlighting the importance of using modern technology to achieve water security and meet the needs of people in arid and semi-arid regions.​