Water management was one of the key issue areas discussed at the World Economic Forum’s Extraordinary Annual meeting, which took place in Amman, Jordan from 21-23 June 2003.

During a session on 23 June 2003, panelists discussed a wide range of water issues, including political barriers and opportunities for cooperation, water as a lever of social and economic development, the role of public-private partnerships, public health, integrated water management, and desalination. Much attention was give to water issues in the Middle East. Hazim El-Naser, Jordan’s Minister of Water and Irrigation, told participants that there are more elements of cooperation than barriers to water issues in the region. The Minister pointed to Jordan’s 1994 Peace Treaty with Israel, which covers water issues, as an example of a bilateral agreement that could serve as a model for regional cooperation. Avishay Braverman, President of Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, commented that water is an excuse for war, not a cause for war. “We cannot afford to wait for the politicians to respond to a crisis because they are myopic,” he said. “We must put a public private-partnership agenda in place and it must be long term.” Other speakers addressed water issues as they related to poverty alleviation, health and energy. For a summary of the meeting, see: http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/Water%20
Management_2003?open&event_id=1118&year_id=2003