Irrigation Minister launches ‘Action on Water Adaptation and Resilience’ initiative

Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sweilam announced on Monday, the launch of the Action on Water Adaptation and Resilience (AWARE) initiative, within activities of the Water Day during COP27.

Sweilam indicated that Egypt has made great efforts to put water at the centre of global climate action through a number of measures and events, most notably Egypt’s launch of an international initiative to adapt the water sector during the Water Day.

He stressed the importance of everyone’s support for this important initiative, which is concerned with water and climate issues at the global level, noting that COP27 is the first climate conference to dedicate an entire day to water systems.

The minister reviewed the most prominent challenges facing the African continent resulting from climate change, noting that the temperature in Africa has increased by 0.90 degrees during the past 30 years, and temperatures are still expected to increase during the coming decades, as more than half of the African continent is under severe drought, and therefore Climate change clearly negatively affects water security in Africa and thus negatively affects food security on the continent, in addition to the sea level rise at a rate of 3 mm / year, which threatens many coastal areas in Africa.