Cairo, October 14 – “The unprecedented water crisis we are facing will have severe economic repercussions: high-income countries could see their GDP shrink by an average of 8% by 2050, while low-income countries may suffer even sharper declines, ranging from 10% to 15%,” stated Marco Rago, Vice President of One Water, the committee promoting the Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum, during his address at Cairo Water Week — a key platform for knowledge exchange, policy dialogue, and the promotion of innovative solutions to tackle water scarcity and climate change.
Through its presence in Cairo, One Water aimed to raise awareness of the geopolitical significance of water resources, emphasizing the interconnections between the water crisis, climate change, and the loss of the planet’s natural capital. “The water cycle should be managed as a global common good,” Rago added.
During the day’s sessions, Emilio Ciarlo, Director General of One Water, and Biagio Di Terlizzi, Director of CIHEAM Bari, presented an overview of the One Water project — an initiative funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Among its key outcomes was the creation of a network of public, private, institutional, and civil society stakeholders from across the Mediterranean. This network has not only fostered dialogue and the exchange of best practices among participants but has also ensured active and continuous engagement throughout all phases of the project.
Ciarlo emphasized that “strengthening relations among countries and participating in institutional events have helped position the project as a reference point in Euro-Mediterranean water governance.”
Through four regional meetings, several institutional missions, and four thematic working groups, the One Water project has conducted a comprehensive mapping of policies, regulations, and governance practices in 17 partner countries — including Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Balkans — engaging over a hundred experts, policymakers, and managers from across the region.
The Cairo event also served to announce upcoming strategic milestones. Chief among them is the ministerial meeting for the adoption of the Euro-Mediterranean Water Declaration, convened by the Union for the Mediterranean next March. Most importantly, it reaffirmed the shared commitment to the Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum, to be held in Rome from September 29 to October 2, 2026 — a major platform for dialogue among governments, technical experts, civil society, and the private sector, aimed at uniting efforts to achieve the ambitious goal of water security in the Mediterranean by 2050.
