Successful ‘Water for Future’ festival and conference concludes
Last week, several activities marked the completion of our two-year Clean Tigris project in Erbil, Iraq, notably a well-attended public conference with local and international experts on water resources, climate change and water conflict prevention. In this conference, the jointly written Roadmap for a sustainable water resource management in Iraq (in Arabic) was finalised.
The roadmap was presented to the public and media channels on 29 October at Erbil International Hotel. The conference was opened by the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources of KRG Mrs Begard Talabani, the Head of the Environmental Board Mr Abdulrahman Sadiq, as well as German Consul Mr Klemens Semtner.
On the occasion of the Cop 26 taking place on the same weekend in Glasgow, the conference’s panelists discussed the impact of climate change on Iraq and its local economy, the potential for conflicts and the need for a sustainable governance, as well as the role of civil society and academia for a change in water policies.
At the end of the event, the roadmap was handed over by elbarlament to Mr Akram Ahmad Rasoul, General Directorate of Dams and Reservoirs at the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of KRI, Dr. Sadiq Baker Jawad, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Water and Agricultural affairs, Mohamed Amin Faris, Member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq, Dr. Ali Rashid Ahmed Khoshnaw, Chairman of the Provincial Council in Erbil.
We hope that the handed out roadmap will not remain a piece of paper, but that its recommendations will be implemented soon!
The festival at the Erbil citadel hosted the exhibition “Reconnecting to our Lifeblood” by the Waterkeepers Iraq and visuals produced for the comic and research publications by Clean Tigris project. The conference ended with a live concert by Mshakht band, a group of musicians from all over Iraq and Syria coming from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, willing to spread tolerance and reconciliation through their music and perfectly suit elbarlament’s approach for dialogue and diversity!
If you are in Erbil, you have the chance to go visit our exhibition with the Waterkeepers Iraq at the Erbil citadel until this Sunday, 7th November! It is open everyday from 10 to 5pm.
What’s next for the Clean Tigris project?
We are putting the final touches on the English version of the roadmap, a truly valuable document full of recommendations on how to improve the water management situation in Iraq. It will be available very soon.
