Water use has been growing globally at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, and an increasing number of regions are reaching the limit at which water services can be sustainably delivered. By 2025, 1 800 million people are expected to be living in countries or regions with “absolute” water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under “stress” conditions. The Near East and North Africa (NENA) Region, already exposed to chronic shortage of water, will be exposed in the coming decades to a severe intensification of water scarcity due to several drivers, including demographic growth, tendency to increase food self-sufficiency to reduce vulnerability to import and price volatility, urbanization expansion, energy demand and overall socio-economic development.

Acknowledging the urgency of the water issues faced by countries of the region, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the third year, is taking active part in Cairo Water Week, a high level global event on water issues which is convened by the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation under the patronage of H.E. Mr. Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, in Cairo from 18 - 22 October 2020.