Making the most of scarcity : accountability for better water management results in the Middle East and North Africa

This report aims to show how water is integrated into the wider economic policies of the countries of the region. For that reason, it brings water issues to non-water specialists, addressing a multi-sectoral audience. The report will outline actions that can further a broad reform agenda within the current political and economic climate. The report argues that water need not be a constraint to economic development and social stability in MENA. In fact, strong and diversified economies are themselves likely to give governments more political space for the reforms necessary to improve water management. Household, commercial, and industrial water uses represent only 10 to 15 percent of a country’s water needs, with agriculture and the environment accounting for the rest. Almost every country of the region, therefore, has sufficient water to supply its population with drinking water, even given burgeoning urban populations.