RIYADH: Saudi Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli met Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Soud to discuss bilateral cooperation in the water sector, Jordan News Agency reported.
The meeting took place on Thursday on the sidelines of the 15th session of the Arab Ministerial Water Council and the 5th Arab Water Conference, which ran from Nov. 22-23 in Riyadh.
Abu Soud highlighted the importance of Jordanian-Saudi cooperation in the water sector as a critical pillar for advancing the prospects of joint Arab collaboration in agriculture and climate-related issues.
He congratulated Saudi Arabia on the successful organization of the conference, which aimed to discuss the future vision for sustainable water security in the Arab world, as well as to adopt a long-term roadmap for achieving sustainable water security in the region.
Both officials discussed methods for exchanging knowledge and expertise to mitigate the Arab region’s challenges with water scarcity, combating the effects of climate change, and using alternative water resources such as desalination and recycled water.
Abu Soud backed Saudi Arabia’s plan to establish a global water organization, which aims to improve water resource management and sustainability by helping the exchange of technical experiences, innovations, research and development, and funding for priority projects.
Jordan has launched several initiatives to address the challenges of water scarcity as a result of its growing population, climate change and the presence of a large number of refugees, the minister said. He pointed to Jordan’s pioneering work in treated water reuse in accordance with the best international standards, improving water supply efficiency, ensuring sustainable water sources and mitigating water loss.
Al-Fadhli highlighted the importance of Jordanian-Saudi strategic relations and praised efforts to secure Jordan’s water needs and find sustainable solutions.
During the Arab Ministerial Water Council, officials called the Israeli occupation forces’ attack on the Palestinian people and the cessation of basic services such as electricity and water to Gaza Strip residents a serious war crime.
The ministers said that Israel’s assault on Gaza had led to the near-complete collapse of groundwater wells and fuel supplies, the suspension of desalination plants and control stations, water supply instability and the closure of the northern Gaza supply point. As a result, sewage treatment systems were shut down, causing them to overflow and severely damaging the water infrastructure.
The council emphasized the importance of the international community fulfilling its responsibility to use political and legal means to end Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
