12 October 2009: The Regional Bureau for Arab States of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), jointly with the League of Arab States, organized a High-level Partners Meeting on Water Governance in Cairo, Egypt, from 12-13 October 2009.

During the meeting, UNDP officially launched a regional initiative, the “Water Governance Programme for Arab States.”
The programme, which was supported by the Government of Japan in its preparatory phase, aims to support regional efforts to improve the effective management and use of scarce water resources in Arab States by addressing socio-economic and environmental dimensions and water governance within the integrated water resources management context. More specifically, the programme will address water challenges resulting from geographic and climatic conditions, limited capacity and resources, and lack of appropriate data and monitoring tools. [UNDP Newsroom]