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Public Opinion Assessment

A MENA Case Study

REC Paper • August 2016

In the framework of the Water and Security (WaSe) component of the

WATER SUM project, a public opinion assessment was undertaken in

local communities in Jordan (the municipalities of Al Karak, Jerash,

Al-Salt and Ajloun) and Tunisia (the delegations of Sidi Ali Ben Aoun,

Bir Mcherga, Nefza and Matmata) in relation to water management,

water governance and water security. The questionnaire also gathered

information on water development and management projects.

The public opinion assessment is one of the key steps in the creation of

local water security action plans, as described in the WATER SUM Local

Water Security Action Planning Manual. This document presents the

results of public opinion assessments carried out in Jordan and Tunisia.

Public Opinion Assessment in

Partner Municipalities and Delega-

tions of the WATER SUM project

A MENA Case Study

Regional Environmental CenterSzentendre • Hungary

August 2016

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Editor:

AnaPOPOVICRegionalEnvironmentalCenterContributors:

Dr.MirjanaBARTULASingidunumUniversity,RepublicofSerbia

SameehAlNUIMATIUCNRegionalOfficeforWestAsiaDankoALEKSICRegionalEnvironmentalCenterSrdjanSUSICRegionalEnvironmentalCenterLocalcontributors,coordinatorsoflocalplanningteams:

LamaSuleimanShehadaMunicipalityofAjloun,Jordan

MutazAyeshHamedAllahAlAwaishehMunicipalityofSalt,Jordan

WafaaHusseinFalehHawamdehMunicipalityofJerash,Jordan

SajedaAqelHattabAlrahaifeMunicipalityofKarak,Jordan

TahiaAbdeljaouedDelegationofBirMcherga,Tunisia

SihemBenAliDelegationofMatmata,Tunisia

HoudaHassiniDelegationofSidiAliBenAoun,Tunisia

MohamedAliDellaiDelegationofNefza,TunisiaCopyeditor:RachelHIDEG•Coverdesign:TriciaBARNARegionalEnvironmentalCenter

Publishedby:TheRegionalEnvironmentalCenter•Szentendre•Hungary,October2016

ThisreportwasproducedunderComponent2:WaterandSecurityoftheWATERSUMproject,implementedbytheRegionalEnvironmentalCenterandfundedbytheSwedishInternationalDevelopmentCooperationAgency(Sida).TheanalysiscontainedinthisreportdonotnecessarilyreflecttheviewsoftheRECorofSida.

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Tableofcontents

Introduction.............................................................................................................................................3

Methodology...........................................................................................................................................5

Results....................................................................................................................................................10

PublicopinionassessmentinJordan................................................................................................12

Country-specificconclusionsforJordan...........................................................................................20

OverviewofpublicopinionassessmentresultsperpartnermunicipalityinJordan......................22

MunicipalityofAjloun.......................................................................................................................22

MunicipalityofAlKarak....................................................................................................................31

MunicipalityofJerash.......................................................................................................................40

MunicipalityofAl-Salt.......................................................................................................................50

PublicopinionassessmentinTunisia................................................................................................59

Country-specificconclusionsforTunisia...........................................................................................67

OverviewofpublicopinionassessmentresultsperpartnerdelegationinTunisia.........................69

BirMchergadelegation.....................................................................................................................69

Matmatadelegation..........................................................................................................................79

Nefzadelegation................................................................................................................................88

SidiAliBenAoundelegation.............................................................................................................97

Generalconclusions.............................................................................................................................107

References...........................................................................................................................................109

Annexes...............................................................................................................................................110

Annex1.Water-relatedpublicopinionassessmentquestionnaire(English)................................110

Annex2.Water-relatedpublicopinionassessmentquestionnaire(Arabic).................................113

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Introduction

Through the project “Sustainable Use of Transboundary Water Resources and Water SecurityManagement” (WATER SUM) the REC is active in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region,supportedbyfundingfromtheGovernmentofSweden(SwedishInternationalDevelopmentCooperationAgency [Sida] contribution ID 52030234) [1]. The overall objective of the project is to promote andenhance sustainable water resources management and to foster a comprehensive and integratedapproachtowatersecurityandecosystemservicesforsustainabledevelopmentinbeneficiarycountriesin the MENA region in order to help halt the downward spiral of poverty, biodiversity loss andenvironmentaldegradation.Theprojectisdividedintotwocomponents:WaterResourcesManagementGoodPracticesandKnowledgeTransfer(WaterPOrT);andWaterandSecurity(WaSe).

TheWaSecomponentsupportstheprocessofintroducinganddraftinglocalwatersecurityactionplans(LWSAPs)intargetlocaladministrativeterritoriesinJordanandTunisia.Followingtheinceptionphaseofthe project, Jordan and Tunisia were selected as focus countries in the MENA region for the WaSecomponent [2], and based on stakeholder consultations in the initial phase of the project eightadministrativeterritorieswereselectedforthedevelopmentofLWSAPs.

InJordan:

●AjlounMunicipality

●AlKarakMunicipality

●JerashMunicipality

●Al-SaltMunicipality

InTunisia:

●NefzaDelegation

●BirMchergaDelegation

●MatmataDelegation

●SidiAliBenAounDelegation

To support the process of introducing and drafting LWSAPs, the REC team developed a step-by-stepmanual for practitioners in local communities [3]. The manual presents an original methodologycomprisingseveninterrelatedactivities,somesupportedbyaseparatetailoredmethodology,coveringstakeholderanalysis,publicopinionassessment,localwatersecurityassessment,andproblemanalysisandprioritisation.Eachofthesevenactivitiescomprisestwoormoresteps,makingatotalof20stepsintheLWSAPprocess.

Publicopinionassessmentswerecarriedoutintheeightpartnercommunitiesusingthemethodology[4]presented in the LWSAPmanual. Thepresent report contains a summaryof themethodologyand itsresults.TheRegionalOfficeforWestAsiaofthe InternationalUnionforConservationofNature(IUCNROWA)supportedtheimplementationofactivitiesinthepartnermunicipalitiesanddelegationsinJordanandTunisia.

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Publicopinion surveysare carriedout inorder toobtainanunderstandingof theaggregateopinions,attitudesandexperiencesofanentirepopulation,andofdifferentsocialgroupswithinthatpopulation.TheapproachfollowedbytheRECteamwasbasedontheconvictionthatallstakeholders,aswellasthepublic,shouldbegivenanopportunitytostatetheiropinionsandoffersuggestionsontheissuestackledbytheWATERSUMproject.

Theresultsofthepublicopinionassessmentrepresentedthefirstinputforassessingthecurrentstatusofwatersecurity.Theplanningteamsusedthereportonthepublicopinionassessmenttoensurethatactionplansweredevelopedonthebasisofreallocalneeds.Themethodologywastakenfromthesocialsciencesandgenerallytendstotaketheformofclosed-formatquestionsaddressedtoindividuals.Whileit is importanttounderstandhowthesamplegroupasawholerespondstothe issues, itmayalsobeimportant to understand how individual groups vary — for example by geographical location (Isinformationprovisionbetterinsomeplacesthanothers?)andsocialgrouping(Aresomepeopleabletoaccessmoreorbetterinformationthanothers?Ifyes,why?).Thesurveycanthusprovidethebasisforpossible future action to improve water security, reduce poverty and halt biodiversity loss andenvironmentaldegradation.

Webelievethatthemethodology,alongwiththedevelopedquestionnaireandon-linetool,usedintheeight partner local administrative territories to assess public opinion during the process of draftingLWSAPs,canalsobeofuseinotherlocalcommunitiesinterestedindevelopingLWSAPs,andevenadaptedforuseatregionalorcountrylevel.

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Methodology

ThepublicopinionassessmentswerecarriedoutusingamethodologyspeciallydevelopedbyDr.AnilGravesandDr.MirjanaBartulaforlocalwatersecurityactionplanningwithintheWATERSUMproject[4].

Theplanningteamineachpartnermunicipalityanddelegation,supportedbyexternalexperts,carriedoutthepublicopinionassessment,includingtheidentificationofkeyissues,sampledesignandframing,dataacquisitionandanalysis,andtheinterpretationofresults.PublicopinionassessmentisanintegralpartoftheLWSAPprocessinordertoidentifyandprioritiseproblemsandissuesforinclusionintheactionplanningprocess.

Thepublicopinionassessmentmethodologycomprisesseveralstages,someofwhichinvolvetheplanningteam,whileothersareundertakeninthefieldbyinterviewers(seeFigure1).TheapproachwasdevelopedlargelyonthebasisofBryman(2012)andiselaboratedindetailintheLWSAPmanual[3].TheprocesspresentedherecanbeseenasagenericframeworkforconductingpublicopinionsurveysandreflectstheapproachadoptedintheWATERSUMproject.Inpractice,theapproachmayvaryfromcontexttocontextandprojecttoproject.

STAGE1:IDENTIFICATIONOFKEYISSUESTOBEASSESSED

No assessment can begin without first identifying the key issues and context. Once there is a broadunderstandingoftheissuestobeassessed,theassessmentcangraduallybenarroweddowntospecificquestions.Theformulationofkeyissuesisessential,asitsetsthedirectionforallsubsequentstepsinthedevelopmentofthepublicopinionassessment.

STAGE2:REVIEWOFLITERATUREANDTHEORIESRELATINGTOTHETOPIC

Narrowingdowntheissuestobeassessedinordertoformulateaimsandobjectivesisusuallyassociatedwithareviewoftheliteratureandtheoryrelatingtothetopic.Itisusuallyhelpfultoidentifywhetheranypriorassessmenthastakenplaceinthearea,eitherlocallyorinternationally.Thisestablishesacontextfortheassessmentandhighlightsprecedentsandpossibleapproachesforthecurrentassessment.Forexample, a literature review may reveal that water governance is a key concept. However, theinvestigation of this concept has various dimensions, and these dimensions must be identified andexploredbeforemeaningfulassessmentquestionsandassessmentinstrumentscanbedevelopedinordertostudywatergovernanceinaparticularlocation.

STAGE3:FORMULATIONOFASSESSMENTAIMSANDOBJECTIVES

Clearlyformulatedassessmentaimsandobjectiveswillguidetheeventualformoftheassessment—forexamplewhetherqualitativeorquantitativeassessmentisneeded,orwhetherclosed-oropen-formatquestionnairesareused.Theywillalsofacilitatethedraftingofquestions.

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Figure1.Stagesinthepublicopinionassessment

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STAGE4:IDENTIFICATIONOFPOPULATIONANDLOCATIONOFSTUDY

The“population”isessentiallytheuniverseofpeoplefromwhichasampleistaken.Thepopulationmaybeanation,acityoracollectionofcities,oramunicipality.Asampleisagroupselectedforinvestigationfromoutofthepopulation.Thesampleneedstobedrawnfromapopulationthatisrelevanttothetopicofinvestigationandtotheassessmentquestionsinordertoprovideusefuldataandinformation.Intermsoflocation,itisimportanttoensurethattheappropriatepopulationisinvestigated.Inmanycases,thepracticalitiesandlogisticsoftheassessmentalsoneedtobeconsidered.Isthepopulationtooremotetobeaccessedwithintheprojectbudgetortimeframe,forexample?Doesthewholepopulationneedtobesampled,oronlyacertainpartofit?

STAGE5:IDENTIFICATIONOFSAMPLEDESIGN,SAMPLINGFRAMEANDSAMPLESIZE

Thesamplemaytaketheformofaprobabilitysample,whererespondentsareselectedrandomly;oranon-probabilitysample,whereselectionisbasedoncertaincriteria.Probabilitysamplesincludesimplerandom samples, systematic samples, stratified random samples, or multi-stage cluster samples.Probabilitysamplesarerepresentativeandallowforgeneralisationfromthesampletothepopulation.Non-probabilitysamplingincludesconveniencesampling,snowballsamplingandquotasampling.Intheseapproaches,asthesampleisnotselectedtorepresentthepopulation,itisdifficulttousetheresultstomakeinferencesaboutthegeneralpopulation.

IntheWATERSUMprojectweusedaprobability-basedsampledesign,where,asnotedabove,thesamplesizeisimportant.However,totalsamplesizeismoreimportantthanthesizeofthesamplerelativetothepopulation.Inawell-implementedstudy,theprecisionandrepresentativenessofthesampleincreasesasthe sample size increases, since sampling error (themismatch between sample respondents and thepopulation) decreases the bigger the sample. However, beyond a certain sample size there is littleincreaseinprecision,soasthesamplesizeincreasesthestudybecomeslessandlesscost-effective.

In practice, there do not appear to be any fixed rules for sample size, and actual size is likely to bedeterminedbyanumberoffactors,whichmayincludetheamountoftimeandmoneyavailable.Therateofnon-responseorincompleteresponsesalsoneedstobeconsidered.If,forexample,itisexpectedthat20percentofthesamplewillnotreplytoaquestionnaire,thenthesampleneedstobe20percentlargerthanthetargetsamplesize.Averyheterogeneouspopulationmayalsoimplytheneedforalargersample,especiallyifthereisaneedtoanalysethedataaccordingtodifferentsocialgroupswithinthatsample.Finally,someanalyticaltechniquesalsorequirelargersamplesizesthanothers.

Itshouldbenotedthaterrorisanunavoidablepartofanyassessment.Theproportionalrepresentationofselectedsocialgroupsinthesamplemaynot,forexample,properlyrepresenttheproportionsofthosesocial groups within the population (sampling error). There may also be errors associated with theimplementationofthesurvey,forexampleaninadequatesamplingframe(numberofrespondents)dueto the low response rate,which in turnmeans that the sample results cannot be generalised to thepopulationasawhole(sampling-relatederror).Thedatacollectioninstrumentsmaybepoorlydeveloped(e.g.confusingquestions),resultinginrespondentsnotactuallyansweringthequestionthatisintended(datacollectionerror).Finally,thecollecteddatamaybeincorrectlyprocessed,meaningthatdatafromthe field collection instruments (e.g. paper-based field questionnaires) are incorrectly copied into acomputerforanalysis(dataprocessingerrors).

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STAGE6:IDENTIFICATIONOFTHEMODEOFADMINISTRATIONOFTHESURVEYINSTRUMENT

There are twomajor approaches to obtaining social data in a survey: structured interviews and self-completedquestionnaires.Structured interviewsareusuallyundertaken face to faceorby telephone.Self-completedquestionnairesareadministeredbytherespondentsthemselvesandmay,forexample,besentbypostoremail,orsetuponawebsite.IntheWATERSUMproject,theapproachtakenisthatofstructured,face-to-faceinterviews.

Structured interviews are one of themost commonly used approaches in surveys and research. Theapproach is closely associated with quantitative research. Using a standardised interview format, allrespondentsareaskedexactly thesamequestions, in thesameorder, inorder tominimisevariationsbetweeninterviews.Thisisimportantnotonlybecausethesameinterviewerisabletoconductinterviewsinanidenticalway,reducingintra-interviewervariability,butalsobecausedifferentinterviewersareabletoconductinterviewsinthesameway,reducinginter-interviewervariability.

STAGE7:DEVELOPMENTOFPILOTQUESTIONNAIRE

Aquestionnairecanbedevelopedusingopenquestionsorclosedquestions.Openquestionsareusefulintermsof looking forunexpectedornewdata, as respondents areable toprovide theirownanswers.However,the interviewsaretime-consuming,and it isbothtime-consuminganddifficulttocodesuchdata afterwards. The advantage of closed questions is that they are faster and easier to answer andprocess,andthereisgreatercomparabilityofresponses.Thedisadvantageisthatitisdifficulttoidentifyalltheanswersthatarespondentmightbeabletogive,thustherangeofpossibleresponsesislimited.

Whendevelopingthequestionsitisimportanttobearinmindtheassessmentaims,tobespecificaboutwhatneedstobefoundout,andtoimaginehowthequestionswouldappeartoyouifyouwereansweringthem.Cantheybeconsideredirrelevant,marginallyrelevant,vagueorconfusing?Ifso,theyneedtobere-writtenordeletedfromthequestionnaire.Thequestionsshouldbeclearandpreciseandtheselectedresponsesshouldbeclearlyandlogicallyrelatedtothequestionthatisbeingasked.Ambiguouswordsinanswer sets (e.g. the scales used, such as “strongly agree”, “agree”, “neither agree or disagree”,“disagree”,or“stronglydisagree”),forexample“often”or“frequently”,shouldbeavoidedastheycanmeanmany different things to different people. Excessively long questions, vague questions, leadingquestions,questionswithtwoparts,questionsaskingmorethanonething,questionscontainingnegativeterms,andquestionscontainingtechnicaltermsthatpeoplemaynotunderstandshouldallbeavoided.Clearinstructionsonhowrespondentsshouldanswermustbeprovidedforeachquestion.

STAGE8:PILOTING,REVISIONANDFINALISATIONOFTHEQUESTIONNAIRE

Itisimportanttopilottestthequestionnaireasimprovementscanalwaysbemade.Itmaybefound,forexample,thatthequestionnaireistoolongorthatsomequestionsareconfusing.Thepilotcanbeusedtoseewhetherthequestionnaireflowssmoothlyorisdisjointed.Itcanalsobeusedtodeterminewhetherthe questionnaire instrument works as intended, or if improvements are needed. Piloting is also anopportunityfortheinterviewerstogainexperienceandtopractisetheirinterviewingskillsbeforetheyinterviewpeoplewhoseresponseswillbecodedandusedinthemainpartofthestudy.Respondentswhohavebeeninterviewedforapilotstudyshouldnotbeincludedagaininthefinalstudy.

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STAGE9:SELECTIONOFPOPULATIONSAMPLEANDADMINISTRATIONOFQUESTIONNAIRE

In the main part of the assessment, the interviews are conducted according to the sampling framedevelopedinStage5.Whenconductingthemaininterview,itisimportantthattheinterviewerisfamiliarwith and properly understands the interview format and the questions it contains. It is critical thatdifferentinterviewerssharethesameunderstandingoftheinterviewscheduleandthequestions.

Atthebeginningoftheinterview,itisgoodpracticeandpoliteforinterviewerstointroducethemselves,theirorganisationandtheassessmenttopic,andtoexplainbrieflyhowtheinterviewwillbeconducted.It is important toreassuretherespondentthat theirparticipation isvoluntary,andthat thedatatheyprovidewill remainanonymousandconfidential, thusany informationtheyofferduringthe interviewcannotbeusedagainstthemortoidentifythem.Itisalsoimportanttoexplaintotheintervieweethattheyhavetherighttowithdrawfromtheinterviewatanypoint,andthattheymaychoosenottorespondtoaparticularquestioniftheyfinditembarrassingorinappropriate.Theyshouldalsobeinformedthattheyarefreetoaskquestions.Duringtheinterviewitisimportanttokeeptotheorderofthequestionsandtorecordalltheanswersgiven.Generallyspeaking,duringthequestionnairedesignitisbesttoputthemostrelevantquestionsfirst.Thismeansputtingquestionsconcerningtheparticipant’sbackgroundto theveryend. It isalsoconsideredbestpractice toaskgeneralquestionsona topicbefore specificquestions,andtoleavesensitiveordifficultquestionsuntiltheendofthequestionnaire.

Ifarespondentdoesnotansweraquestionproperly,itispossibletoprobethem.However,itisimportantthat this is done impartially, without leading the respondent towards a particular answer. If therespondenthasnotrespondedtoasetofansweroptions,forexample,boththequestionandtheoptionscanberepeated.Ideally,probingshouldbekepttoaminimumasitcouldintroduceinterviewerbiasorunintendedinterviewereffectsintothesurvey.

An alternative strategymight be to use answer prompts. In closed-format questions, prompts are, ineffect,alreadyincludedintheformofasetofpredefinedanswers.Readingoutthesepredefinedanswersin the caseof everyquestion is quite tedious, so the respondentmaybehappy to read thepromptsdirectlythemselves,orfromseparateflashcardsthatcanbegiventotherespondentduringtheinterview.

Once the interview is finished, the interviewer shouldbe sure to thank the respondent for their timebeforetheyleave.

STAGE10:ENTERINGDATAINTOTHEDATABASEFORSTATISTICALANALYSIS

Dataentryisarelativelystraightforwardprocesswhenusingclosed-formatquestions.Thekeyissuehereistoensurethattheinterviewdataareenteredaccurately,andthatincompleteresponsesareidentified.

STAGE11:ANALYSISOFDATAANDINTERPRETATIONOFFINDINGS

Therearemanywaysinwhichclosed-formatquestionscanbeanalysed,dependingonwhetherthedataareintervalorratiodata,ordinaldata,orcategorydata.

STAGE12:INTERPRETATIONOFFINDINGSANDCONSIDERATIONOFIMPLICATIONSFORTHEASSESSMENTAIMSANDOBJECTIVES

Thedataandtheresultsofthestatisticalanalysisshouldbeusedtohelpmeettheaimsandobjectivesoftheassessmentandtoanswertheassessmentquestions.

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Results

FollowingtheLWSAPManual[3]andproposedpublicopinionassessmentmethodology[4],theplanningteammembers—supportedby localcoordinatorsandteamsofexperts,aswellas local surveyors—carriedoutthepublicopinionassessmentas thethirdactivityandfifthstep intheLWSAPprocess,aspresentedinFigure2.

Figure2.Thelocalwatersecurityactionplanningprocess,highlightingthepublicopinionassessmentstep

ApublicopinionassessmentwascarriedoutinalltheparticipatinglocalcommunitiesinJordanandTunisiainspring2016,organisedbyIUCNRegionalOfficeforWestAsia.

Atthebeginningoftheprocess,apilotquestionnaireandsamplesizewereproposedanddiscussedatseveralmeetingsoftheWATERSUMteamwithlocalcoordinatorsandtheplanningteam.Afewchangesweremadeduringthisprocess,andtheprojectteamthencameupwithafinalquestionnairethatservedasabasis forconductingpublicopinionassessments in the fieldand tosupport localLWSAPplanningteamsinJordanandTunisia.

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Afterreachingconsensusonthesetofquestions,preparatorytrainingswereorganisedbytheWATERSUM team and appointed experts to support the local planning teams and engaged surveyors in themunicipalitiesinJordanandthedelegationsinTunisia.Duringthesetrainings,allparticipantshadafinalchance to double-check the developed questionnaire, and discussions focused primarily on how toundertakepublicopinionassessmentinthefield;howtofurthersupportthedisseminationofinformationabouttheWATERSUMproject;andhowtoensuretheactiveinvolvementofallinterestedgroups.

ThefinalquestionnairewaspreparedinEnglishandArabicandwasmadeavailableinprintedformtothesurveyteams,aswellasonline,withanswersenteredmanuallybythesurveyors:

1) Publicopinionquestionnaire(English):http://watersum.rec.org/public_opinion_assessment/index.php

2) Publicopinionquestionnaire(Arabic):http://watersum.rec.org/public_opinion_assessment/index_ar.php

ThefullquestionnairescanbefoundinAnnexes1and2.

Fieldassessmentresultsareavailableonlineontheprojectpage:http://watersum.rec.org/wase-public-opinion/results.php, based on 3,207 answers in the database, searchable in total and by individualmunicipalityanddelegation.

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PublicopinionassessmentinJordan

ThischaptersummarisestheresultsofthepublicopinionassessmentinJordan,aswellasrecommendationsforachievingtheobjectivessetinthequestionnaire.

Objective1–Improveinformationflowbetweenlocalauthoritiesandlocalpeople

Howdoyoulearnaboutwaterquality? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNewspapers 13.1 8.8 20.3 10.3TV 42.7 49.2 30.7 54.6Radio 9 5.7 4.6 2.3Villagemeetings 5.1 5.4 4.2 1.7Internet 21.4 24.9 28 11.4Idonotgetthatinformation

8.7 6 12.3 19.7

Howdoyoulearnaboutgovernmentalplansforimproving,waterquality,waterscarcityetc.? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNewspapers 17.9 4.4 13.4 8.5TV 40.7 50.2 40.6 55Radio 14.5 8.5 10 1.5Villagemeetings 9 6.6 1.1 1.6Internet 11.2 21.8 25.7 7.6Idonotgetthatinformation

6.7 8.5 9.2 25.7

Howoftendothelocalauthoritiesprovideyouwithinformationrelatedtowaterqualityinyourvillage? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNever 40.4 59.9 48.3 89.8Onceeveryyear 25 17.4 18.8 6.2Onceevery6months

17.3 13.6 20.3 2.6

Onceeverymonth

12.7 4.7 11.1 0.7

Onceeveryweek 3.2 4.1 1.1 0.3Onceaday 1.4 / 0.4 0.4

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Howoftenwouldyouliketoreceiveinformationaboutwaterqualityfromlocalauthorities? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNever 12.7 7.3 11.5 9.7Onceeveryyear 27.6 12.3 26.8 21.9Onceevery6months

27.6 30.3 39.7 31.5

Onceeverymnth 22.8 31.9 27.2 31.4Onceeveryweek 8.5 11.4 3.1 4.3Onceaday 0.7 6.9 0.8 1.2

Howoftendothelocalauthoritiesprovideinformationrelatedtowaterplansandprogramsinyourvillage? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNever 38.4 46.1 39.5 87.2Onceeveryyear 18.8 15.5 26.1 8Onceevery6months

23.2 17.4 21.8 3.8

Onceeverymnth 12.6 8.8 11.5 0.7Onceeveryweek 6.4 10.7 1.1 0.2Onceaday 0.7 1.6

Howoftendoyourequestinformationaboutwaterfromlocalauthorities? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNever 36.8 17.7 21.1 80Onceeveryyear 17.7 8.2 23.4 15.5Onceevery6months

22.5 30.6 24.9 3.1

Onceeverymnth 13.5 30.9 26.4 1Onceeveryweek 8.3 12 3.4 0.3Onceaday 1.2 0.6 0.8 Howoftendoyouexpressopinionaboutwaterrelatedproblemstolocalauthorities? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNever 26.2 30.3 23.4 54.3Onceeveryyear 23 11 19.5 26.8Onceevery6months

25.8 17.4 24.9 10.7

Onceeverymonth

16.3 25.2 27.6 6.5

Onceeveryweek 8 6.3 4.6 1.4Onceaday 0.7 9.8 / 0.2

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Objective1–Recommendationsprovidedbythelocalteams

• Public awareness-raising campaigns should use various means of communication and

dissemination,includingtelevision,newspapers,radioandInternet,inordertoreachbetween50and85percentofthepopulation.

• Awareness-raisingcampaignsshouldbefocused.• Localauthoritiesshouldbemotivatedtoprovideinformationonwaterqualityandwater-related

plansandprogrammestothepublicatleastonceeverysixmonthsusingtelevision,newspapers,radioandInternet.

• Awareness should be raised of the public’s rights/possibilities to request water-relatedinformationfromrelevantinstitutionsandtoparticipateindecision-makingprocessesregardingenvironmentalissues.ThisisparticularlyimportantinthemunicipalityofAl-Salt.

• The following additional proposals were provided by local coordinators during the projectworkshops:

o AlKarakMunicipality:- Municipality/localgovernancestructuresshouldorganiseseminarsandmeetings

forlocalcommunitiestodiscussthestatusofwaterandwaterproblemsandhowtosolvethem.

- Brochures should be published periodically to explain thewater situation andinnovations,anddistributedtohouseholdswithwaterbills.

- Educationaltelevisionprogrammesshouldbeproducedtopresentdata,projects,plansandinformationaboutthewatersituationineachmunicipality.

o JerashMunicipality:- Awareness of water management issues should be raised via television

programmesincollaborationwiththerelevantwatermanagementbodies.- Informationonwaterqualityandgovernmentplansrelatedtowatershouldbe

regularlydisseminated,andthepublicserviceofficeshouldbeproactiveinthisrespect.

- Regular meetings should be held between the local authority and the localcommunityforthepurposesofprovidinginformationaboutwatermanagementplans.

- Monthly or annual reports should be issued outlining thewatermanagementsituationincities/localcommunities,andtheproblemsfacedbythecommunity.

• Al-SaltMunicipality:- A 10-minute documentary on water issues should be shown on public (e.g.

national)televisionchannels.- Informationonwaterissuesshouldadditionallybedisseminatedonline.- Leafletsorbrochuresshouldbepublishedfordistributionwithwaterbills.

o Conferencesshouldbeorganisedperiodicallyonlocalwatersecurity.o CoordinationshouldbestrengthenedbetweentheMinistryofWaterandmunicipalities.o Thecommunityshouldbeinvolvedindecision-makingprocesses.

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Objective2–Bringaboutchangeinwatergovernancepatternsintargetmunicipalities

Howoftenareyouinvitedtoparticipateatmeetings(events)relatedtowatermanagementplanningwithinyourmunicipality? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNever 50.4 87.7 43.7 96.3Onceeveryyear 26.5 9.5 14.6 2.8Onceevery6months

15.4 2.8 25.7 0.5

Onceeverymonth

6 / 15.3 0.3

Onceeveryweek 1.4 / 0.4 /Onceaday / / 0.4 /

Isyourcontributiontowatermanagementplanningprocessacceptedbyleadersoftheprocess? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltYes 53.3 31.9 45.2 10.9No 46.7 68.1 54.8 89.1


• Theknowledgeandunderstandingofrelevantauthoritiesshouldbeincreasedregardingthebenefitsofpublicinvolvementintheplanningprocess,andtechniquesforpublicinvolvement.

• CoordinationbetweentheMinistryofWaterandmunicipalitiesshouldbeenhancedsoastoinvolvethecommunityintheplanningprocess.

• Thelocalcommunityshouldbeinvolvedinwatermanagementplanningbyconsultationviatheuseofpublicopinionquestionnaires.

• Watermanagementplansshouldbedevelopedbasedontheneedsofthelocalcommunity.• Thecapacityiesofrepresentativesoflocalpeopleshouldbeincreased,enablingthemto

communicatetheirviewsandattitudestotherelevantauthorities.• Aunitshouldbeestablishedinthemunicipalitytobeinchargeofcommunicationwiththepublic

regardingwaterissues.

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Objective3–Bringaboutbehaviouralchangeinwaterutilisationpatternsintargetmunicipalities

Howoftenwouldyouliketoreceiveinformationaboutwatersavingrulesathome? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNever 8.3 6.3 14.2 8.8Onceeveryyear 26.7 11 17.6 17.2Onceevery6months

35.4 28.1 32.2 34

Onceeverymonth

22.1 32.8 33 34.7

Onceeveryweek 5.8 13.6 3.1 4.2Onceaday 1.6 8.2 1.1

Areyoutryingtosavewaterinyourhome? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltYes 60.4 87.7 46.4 70.9No 39.6 12.3 53.6 29.1

Doyouusetapwaterforcarwashing/wateringgarden,etc.? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltYes 66.2 44.5 28.7 27.1No 33.8 55.5 71.3 72.9

Doyouharvestrainwater? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltYes 31.2 38.2 23.8 25.2No 68.8 61.8 76.2 74.8


• Publicawarenesscampaignsshouldbeorganisedonpossibilitiesforsavingwaterathome.Television,newspapers,Internetandradioshouldbeusedforeffectivepublicoutreach.

• Water-savingtipsshouldbesentouteverysixmonths.

• Fundsshouldberaisedfortheconstructionofrainwaterharvestingfacilitiesinhomes.• Theuseof toolsandequipment to reducewater consumptionshouldbe increased,and theiruse

shouldbeincludedinbuildingcodes.• Regulationsshouldbedevelopedtoobligepeopletobuildwellstoharvestrainwaterforbuildingsand

supportedbyrelevantmunicipallicensingprocedures.• Theplantingofhouseplantsthatdonotrequirelargeamountsofwatershouldbeencouraged.

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• Affordablewaystotreathouseholdgreywaterandreuseitindomesticgardensshouldbeidentifiedandpromoted.

• Brochuresshouldbeproducedtoraiseawarenessoftheimportanceofsavingwaterathome.• Womenshouldbetrainedontheuseofgreywaterathome.• Thediggingofwellsforharvestingrainwatershouldbeencouraged.

Objective4–Improvepublicawarenessoftheimpactofwaterscarcityonbiodiversity,theenvironmentandlocalsocioeconomicdevelopment

Pleaseratetheimportance(currentandfuture)ofwaterqualitytotheabundanceofplantandanimalspecieslivinginyourvillage. AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNotimportantatall

10.8 3.5 10.3 4.1

Notveryimportant

14.2 3.8 8.8 10.3

Neutral 18.1 17.4 26.8 15.3Important 41.9 52.7 37.9 60.7Vitalforplantsandanimals

9.7 19.6 10 6

Idonotknow 5.3 3.2 6.1 3.6

Doyouthinkthatyoucouldearnmoremoneyifyouhadsecureaccesstowater? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNo,Idonot 22.7 18 23.4 38.8Yes 52.2 67.5 44.4 49.2Idonotknow 25.3 14.5 32.2 12.1


• Awareness about the interrelationship between water availability and socioeconomicdevelopmentshouldbeincreasedasamotivationforwatersavingandrainwaterharvesting.

• Mosquesandchurchesshouldbeencouragedtoplayanactiveroleinraisingawarenessoftheimportanceofwaterandtherightsofalltotheequitabledistributionofwater.

• Leafletsanddisplayboardsshouldbeusedinmunicipalspacestomakepeopleawareof:o theseriousnessofwaterscarcityintheregion;ando thehugedifferencebetweenthecostofwaterproduction,treatmentanddeliveryto

households,anditsfinalprice.

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Objective5–Reducewater-relatedtensionsorconflictsintargetmunicipalities

Howoftendoyouhaveconflictsovertheuseofwaterwithotherwaterusers? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltNever 31.9 42 55.2 90.3Onceeveryyear 25 12.6 18 5.5Onceevery6months

17.2 8.5 5.7 1.7

Onceeverymonth

13.5 11.4 12.6 1.2

Onceeveryweek 9 18.6 7.3 0.7Onceaday 3.5 6.9 1.1 0.5

Inyouropinion,whatisthebestsolutionforreducingconflicts? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltSufficientwaterforallsectors

43.2 36 62.1 45.6

Equalparticipationofallconsumersinwatermanagementplanning

27.8 34.4 27.2 31.6

Improvedaccesstowater

16.1 20.5 8 11.9

Reducedwaterpollution

12.9 9.1 2.7 10.9


• Thebestsolutionforreducingconflictsovertheuseofwateramongdifferentusersistosecureenoughwaterforallsectorsbyparticipatorywatermanagementplanning.Thiswillensuretheequal participation of all consumers in water management planning and water pollutionreduction.

• Asignificantdifferenceshouldbeintroducedbetweenthepricepaidforwaterbyhouseholdsthatconsumereasonableamountsofwater,andthepricepaidforwaterbyhouseholdsthatconsumelargeramountsofwater(bigdifferencesinpricecategoriestoachieveequaldistribution).

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Informationaboutwateravailability,useandquality

Whatisyourmainuseofwater? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltDomestic 81.2 96.2 94.6 99Gardening 12.4 1.9 4.6 1Farming 6.4 1.9 0.8

Doyougetenoughwaterforyourmainuse? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltYes 47.3 38.2 36.4 51Never 20.2 12.3 29.1 6.8Mostdays 32.6 49.4 34.5 42.1

Isthewaterofanappropriatequalityforyourmainuse? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltYes 29.2 43.8 54.8 53.3No 70.8 56.2 45.2 46.7Idonotknow

Isthewaterprovidedatapricethatyoucanafford? AlKarak Ajloun Jerash Al-SaltYes 70.6 65.9 49.4 71.6No 29.4 34.1 50.6 28.4

Recommendationsprovidedbythelocalteams

Thesurveyresultsshowthatwaterpollutionisaproblemformorethanhalfoftherespondents.InKarakmunicipality,theproportionissignificantlyhigher:70.8percentofrespondentsevaluatedwaterasbeingofinappropriatequalityfortheirmainpurpose(i.e.householduse).

Duringtheworkshopsatwhichtheresultsofthesurveyswerediscussed,thelocalcoordinatorsofpartnermunicipalitiesinJordanprovidedadditionalproposalsandrecommendationsfor improvingthecurrentsituation:

• Publicawarenesscampaignsshouldalsofocusonreducingwaterpollutionathome.

• Themonitoringofwaterqualityshouldbeincreased,andmethodsofwatertreatmentshouldbedeveloped.

• Theuseofenvironmentaltoolsandequipmentinhomesshouldbeencouraged(e.g.washingmachines,irrigationtools).

• Supportshouldbeprovidedfortheimprovementofsewerageinfrastructure.

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Country-specificconclusionsforJordan

Thesurveyresultsindicatethatthemajorityofrespondents(over80percentacrossallmunicipalities)usewaterfordomesticpurposes,whiletheuseofwaterforgardeningandfarmingisrelativelyuncommon.Thequalityofthewatersuppliedisconsideredtoberelativelypoor,aspollutionisasignificantproblemforover50percentofrespondents.(InKarakmunicipality,theproportionissignificantlyhigher,as70.8percentofrespondentsratedwaterqualityaspoor intermsoftheirmainuse.)Thequantityofwatersuppliedisdeemedsufficientorrelativelysufficientbyaround70percentofrespondents,whilethepriceofwaterisdeclaredtobeaffordablebyaround70percentofsurveyrespondents.

OneanomalyinthedistributionofsurveyresultscanbenotedinthemunicipalityofKarak,wherearound20 percent of respondents claim that they use water for gardening and farming, while the samepercentage also claim that they never receive sufficientwater for theirmainwater use. In the samemunicipality,over70percentofrespondentsbelievetheirwatertobeofinappropriatequality,andthesamepercentageareoftheopinionthatwaterisaffordablypriced.Thiscouldleadtotheconclusionthat,in thisparticularmunicipality,water resourcesarenotutilisedsustainablyandthat thecitizens,beingunwareofwater-savingpractices,valuewaterrelativelylittlebyacknowledgingthatthequalityofwaterispoorbutthatthewaterispricedfairly.

ThemajorityofrespondentsinpartnercommunitiesinJordanreceiveinformationaboutwaterquality,whiletheproportionofthosewhoclaimtheydonotreceiveanyinformationvariesbetween6and12percent. The only exception is themunicipality of Al-Salt, where the proportion climbs to almost 20percent. The situation is similar concerning information on governmental plans for improving waterquality,tacklingwaterscarcityandrelatedissues.Themajorityofrespondentsreceivesuchinformation,while the proportion of those who do not ranges from 6 to 9 percent. Again, the exception is themunicipality of Al-Salt, where almost 26 percent of respondents claim that they do not receive anyinformationonthistopicatall.Concerningthesourcesofinformationaboutwaterquality,televisionisthepredominantsourceinallpartnercommunities,whileasignificantproportionofrespondents(rangingfrom40to90percent)confirmedthattheirlocalauthoritiesneverprovidethemwithinformationrelatedtowaterqualityortowaterplansandprogrammesintheircommunities.

National-levelsources(suchasthehydrometeorologicalservice)areapparentlythemainsourcesofwaterqualitydata,whicharemosteffectivelydistributedviatelevisionandotherelectronicmedia.Inaddition,about10percentofrespondentswouldlikenevertoreceiveinformationaboutwaterqualityfromtheirlocalauthorities,andtheproportionofthosewhoneverrequestinformationaboutwaterfromtheirlocalauthoritiesrangesfrom17percentinAjlounto80percentinAl-Salt.Theproportionofthosewhoneverexpresstheiropinionsaboutwater-relatedproblemstolocalauthoritiesrangesfrom23to55percent.Another telling indicator is that43 to96percentof local residentsarenever invited toparticipateatmeetings(events)relatedtowatermanagementplanning intheirmunicipalities,while intermsoftheacceptanceoftheircontributionstowatermanagementplanningprocessesthestatedlevelrangesfrom11to53percent.

These results could imply that local residents have a relatively low level of trust in their municipaladministration,andlimitedinterestintakingpartinwatermanagementplanning.Thereareapparentlyfewopportunitiesforthepublictoaddresswatermanagementandplanning,althoughthereisrelative

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opennesstoexternalinputs,whichleavesthepossibilityforsometransparencyandpublicparticipationintheseprocesses.ThepositionoflocalauthoritiesinthisregardshouldbeviewedinthecontextofapoorlydecentralisedsystemoflocalgovernanceinJordanandalimitedamountofresourcesavailableforthedistributionofwater-relatedinformationinthefield.

A large proportion of respondents (85 to 94 percent) stated that they are interested in receivinginformationaboutwater-savingtechniquesintheirhomes,whileonaverage65percentofrespondentsclaimthattheytrytosavewaterintheirhomes.Inconjunctionwiththelatterfigure,theproportionofrespondentswhousetapwaterforwashingtheircarsorwateringtheirgardensrangesfrom27to45percent,withtheexceptionofAlKarakmunicipality,wheretheproportionis66percent.Onlyabout30percent of respondents in the partner communities harvest rainwater. The importance (current andfuture)ofwaterqualitytotheabundanceofplantandanimalspecieslivingintheircommunitiesisratedasimportantorvitalforplantsandanimalsby48to67percent,whilearound55percentofrespondentsclaimthattheycouldearnmoremoneyiftheyhadsecureaccesstowater.Theseresultsimplythatcitizensinpartnermunicipalitieshavesomeawarenessaboutwatermanagementandits implicationsfortheireverydaylives,andthattheyaresomewhatmotivatedtosavewater.Itseemsthatthereisnopronouncedawarenessabouttheinterrelationshipsbetweenwateravailabilityandsocioeconomicdevelopmentasamotivationforwatersavingandrainwaterharvesting,andthatawarenessshouldbeenhanced.

The frequencyof conflictsbetween respondentsandotherwaterusers in thepartner communities isratedasrelativelylow.Between30and55percentofrespondentsclaimnevertohavesuchconflicts,withtheexceptionofAl-Saltmunicipality,whereover90percentofrespondentsclaimthattheyneverhaveconflictswithotherwaterusers.Thisisconfirmedbytheresultthatover90percentofrespondentsinAl-Saltclaimtoreceivesufficientwaterfortheirmainuse.Incontrast,almost40percentofrespondentsinJerashmunicipalitystatethattheydonotgetenoughwaterfortheirmainuseand,atthesametime,45percentofthemclaimtohaveregularconflictswithotherwaterusersondifferenttimescales.

Thisanomalycanbeexplainedbythefactthatalmost30percentofrespondentsinJerash(thehighestresultamongpartnercommunities)statethattheynevergetenoughwaterfortheirmainuse,thustheyconsiderwatertoberelativelyscarceandinhigherdemandthaninotherlocalities.Thisshouldalsobeviewedinconjunctionwiththeresultthatover50percentofrespondentsfromJerashdonotundertakeanywater-savingmeasures,andover75percentofthemdonotharvestrainwaterfordomesticpurposes.

The provision of sufficient quantities ofwater of sufficient quality is predominantly seen as the bestsolution to reducing conflicts between water users, while the participation of all water users inmanagement and planning is seen as the best tool for reducing conflicts by around 30 percent ofrespondents.Improvedaccesstowaterisrankedrelativelylow(8to20percent)asapotentialtoolforaddressingwater-relatedconflicts.Thiscouldimplythatthemajorityofrespondentshaveregularaccesstowaterofsufficientquality for theirmainuse.Finally, theproportionofrespondentswhostatethatsufficientwaterforallsectorsis,intheiropinion,thebestsolutionforreducingwater-relatedconflictsvariesgreatly—between36and62percent—whilethemoreequalparticipationofallconsumersinwatermanagementplanningisseenasthebesttoolforreducingwater-relatedconflictsbyaround30percentofrespondents.Inconjunctionwiththefindingthataround60percentofrespondentswouldliketoreceiveinformationabout,andhencegetinvolvedin,waterplanningintheircommunities,thiscanbedeemedsignificant,asitconfirmstheassumptionthatcitizensareinterestedandmotivatedtoparticipateinwatermanagementandplanningprocesses.

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OverviewofpublicopinionassessmentresultsperpartnermunicipalityinJordan

MunicipalityofAjloun

Thepublicopinionassessmentquestionnaireonwater-relatedissueswascompletedby317respondentsinthemunicipalityofAjloun,andthefieldassessmentresultsarepresentedbelow.

1. Improveinformationflowbetweenlocalauthoritiesandlocalpeople

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2. Bringaboutchangeinwatergovernancepatternsintargetmunicipalities(initiateabottom-upapproachtowatermanagementplanning)

25

3. Bringaboutbehaviouralchangeinrelationtowaterutilisationpatternsintarget

municipalities

26

4. Improvepublicawarenessabouttheimpactofwaterscarcityonbiodiversity,theenvironmentandlocalsocioeconomicdevelopment

27

5. Reducewater-relatedtensionsorconflictsintargetmunicipalities

28

6. Informationaboutwateravailability,useandquality

29

7. Informationabouttherespondents

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MunicipalityofAlKarak

Thepublicopinionassessmentquestionnaireonwater-relatedissueswascompletedby565respondentsinthemunicipalityofAlKarak,andthefieldassessmentresultsarepresentedbelow.


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34

3. Bringaboutbehaviouralchangeinrelationtowaterutilisationpatternsintargetmunicipalities

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36



38


40

MunicipalityofJerash

Thepublicopinionassessmentquestionnaireonwater-relatedissueswascompletedby261respondentsinthemunicipalityofJerash.Thefieldassessmentresultsarepresentedbelow.


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43


45



46


47


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MunicipalityofAl-Salt

Thepublicopinionassessmentquestionnaireonwater-relatedissueswascompletedby921respondentsinthemunicipalityofAl-Salt.Thefieldassessmentresultsarepresentedinthissection.


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53


54


55



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PublicopinionassessmentinTunisiaThischaptersummarisestheresultsofthepublicopinionassessmentinTunisia,aswellasrecommendationsforachievingtheobjectivessetinthequestionnaire,basedonthequestionnaireandonconsultativemeetingsheldinTunisia.

Objective1–Improveinformationflowbetweenlocalauthoritiesandlocalpeople

Howdoyoulearnaboutwaterquality? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNewspapers 3.4 9.3 6.7TV 1.7 28.9 1.4 21.7Radio 1.3 10.3 4.2 10Villagemeetings 13.5 11.3 32.1 28.3Internet 4.6 7.2 1.2 5Idonotgetthatinformation

75.6 33 61 28.3

Howdoyoulearnaboutgovernmentalplansforimproving,waterquality,waterscarcityetc.? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNewspapers 3.8 6.2 8.3TV 3.4 35.1 0.8 18.3Radio 1.9 13.1 5 11.7Villagemeetings 20.2 10.7 23.1 20Internet 3.6 7.2 1 13.3Idonotgetthatinformation

67.2 27.8 69.6 28.3

Howoftendothelocalauthoritiesprovideyouwithinformationrelatedtowaterqualityinyourvillage? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNever 76.6 72.2 71.7 86.7Onceeveryyear 19.4 19.2 14.1 8.3Onceevery6months

2.1 7.2 10.4 3.3

Onceeverymonth

1.5 1.4 3.2 1.7

Onceeveryweek / 0.4 Onceaday 0.4 /

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Howoftenwouldyouliketoreceiveinformationaboutwaterqualityfromlocalauthorities? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNever 32.4 7.6 13.9 1.7Onceeveryyear 53.5 39.9 4.4 38.8Onceevery6months

10.5 30.6 16.9 23.3

Onceeverymonth

3.2 16.8 50 16.7

Onceeveryweek 4.1 14.3 16.7Onceaday 0.4 1 0.2 3.3

Howoftendothelocalauthoritiesprovideinformationrelatedtowaterplansandprogrammesinyourvillage? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNever 58.7 67 91.2 88.3Onceeveryyear 31.4 25.4 5.4 8.3Onceevery6months

7.2 4.8 1.6 3.3

Onceeverymonth

2.3 2.4 1.8

Onceeveryweek 0.2 0.3 Onceaday 0.2 /

Howoftendoyourequestinformationaboutwaterfromlocalauthorities? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNever 37.3 44 67.9 61.7Onceeveryyear 41.1 33.3 11.2 18.3Onceevery6months

17.9 16.2 12.4 8.3

Onceeverymonth

3.2 6.2 8.4 11.7

Onceeveryweek 0.4 0.3 0.1 /Onceaday 0.2 /

Howoftendoyouexpressopinionaboutwaterrelatedproblemstolocalauthorities? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNever 37.5 50.2 63.5 58.3Onceeveryyear 42.5 28.2 14.5 15Onceevery6months

15.4 11 8.2 3.3

Onceeverymonth

4.2 10 13.1 20

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Onceeveryweek 0.2 0.7 0.6 3.3Onceaday 0.2 Objective1–Recommendationsprovidedbythelocalteams

• Public awareness campaigns shouldmake use of villagemeetings, television and radio,whileInternet/onlinecampaignsmaynotbethemosteffectivetoolforinformationdisseminationintargetdelegations.

• Localauthoritiesshouldbeencouragedtoprovideinformationonwaterqualityandwater-relatedplansandprogrammestothepublicatleastonceayear(accordingtothemajorityofrespondentsinTunisia)usingvillagemeetings,televisionandradio.

• Publicawarenessshouldbeincreasedabouttherighttorequestwater-relatedinformationfromrelevant institutionsand the right toparticipate indecision-makingprocesses regardingwaterissues.

• Thefollowingadditionalproposalswereprovidedbylocalcoordinators:o BirMcherga:

- awarenessonwatershouldberaisedusingmassmedia;- theparticipationofcivilsocietyorganisationsinwatermanagementshouldbe

increased;- genderbalanceinwatermanagementshouldbeensured;and- meetingsshouldbeorganisedtodistributeinformation.

o Nefza:- thenationalwaterdistributionutility,aswellasthewaterusersassociations,

shouldorganiseawarenessprogrammesespeciallyinruralareas,andshouldnotbelimitedtoissueingwaterbills;and

- brochuresshouldbedistributedalongwithwaterbills,providinginformationaboutwaterquality.

o Matmata:- villagemeetingsshouldbeorganisedbylocalleadersandeveryoneinthevillage

shouldbeinvitedtoattend;- informationanddocumentationaboutwaterprojectsandstrategiesshouldbe

sharedwithstakeholders,includingthecentralgovernment;- informationshouldbedisseminatedintheformofpressreleases,reports,

newsletters,brochuresandotherpublications;and- useshouldbemadeofmassmediaprogrammes,spotsandpublicity.

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Objective2–Bringaboutchangeinwatergovernancepatternsintargetmunicipalities

Howoftenareyouinvitedtoparticipateatmeetings(events)relatedtowatermanagementplanningwithinyourmunicipality? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNever 41.4 61.5 68.7 80Onceeveryyear 48.5 28.9 22.3 15Onceevery6months

8.6 7.9 5.6 3.3

Onceeverymonth

1.3 1.7 3.4 1.7

Onceeveryweek Onceaday 0.2 Isyourcontributiontowatermanagementplanningprocessacceptedbyleadersoftheprocess? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataYes 38 84.9 87.3 13.3No 62 15.1 12.7 86.7


• The knowledge and understanding of relevant authorities regarding the benefits of publicinvolvementinplanningprocessesandtechniquesforpublicinvolvementshouldbeincreased.

• Thecapacitiesofrepresentativesoflocalpopulations(civilsocietyorganisations)shouldbeincreasedtoenablethemtocommunicatetheirviewsandopinionstotherelevantauthorities.

• Representativesoflocalpeopleshouldbeinvitedtowatermanagementplanningmeetingsandtheirproposalsshouldbeincludedintheplans.

• Confidence between the administration and citizens should be increased through awarenesscampaignsintheregions.

• Thelocaladministrationshouldbemoreopentotheparticipationofcivilsocietyactors.

Objective3–Bringaboutbehaviouralchangeinwaterutilisationpatternsintargetmunicipalities

Howoftenwouldyouliketoreceiveinformationaboutwatersavingrulesathome? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNever 29.7 4.1 61.6 10Onceeveryyear 48.7 22.7 4.2 30Onceevery6months

18.4 26.5 13.9 30

Onceeverymonth

3 37.5 19.9 20

Onceeveryweek 7.6 0.4 6.7Onceaday 0.2 1.7 3.3

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Areyoutryingtosavewaterinyourhome? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataYes 67.3 81.8 58.2 95No 32.7 18.2 41.8 5

Doyouusetapwaterforcarwashing/wateringgarden,etc.? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataYes 27.6 45.7 39.2 66.7No 72.4 54.3 60.8 33.3

Doyouharvestrainwater? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataYes 56.5 47.4 48 93.3No 43.5 52.6 52 6.7


• Publicawarenesscampaignsshouldbeorganisedonthepossibilitiesforsavingwaterathome.Villagemeetings,televisionandradioshouldbeusedforeffectivepublicoutreach.

• Water-savingtipsshouldbedistributedonceayear.

• Thefollowingpotentialwaystosavewaterwereproposedbylocalcoordinators:

o peoplelivinginruralareasshouldbeencouragedtobuildtanksforrainwaterharvestingandwaterstorage;

o afinancialmechanismshouldbeintroducedtosupportpoorfamiliestoconstructwatertanks;

o incentiveprogrammesshouldbeestablishedinareasthatsufferfromwaterscarcitytoencouragetheimplementationofrainwaterharvestingtechniques;

o awarenesscampaignsshouldencouragerationalconsumptionandtheconservationofwaterresources;

o supplynetworksshouldbemaintainedtopreventleaks;

o theuseofwaterforwashingmaterialsshouldbereducedand,whereverpossible,alternativessuchasdrycleaningtechniquesshouldbeused;scrapers,squeegeesandbrushesshouldbeusedtoremovesolidresiduesbeforewashingmaterialsinwater;and

o wastewaterplantsshouldbeestablishedthatcansupplywaterforirrigation.

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Objective4–Improvepublicawarenessoftheimpactofwaterscarcityonbiodiversity,theenvironmentandlocalsocioeconomicdevelopment

Pleaseratetheimportance(currentandfuture)ofwaterqualitytotheabundanceofplantandanimalspecieslivinginyourvillage. SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNotimportantatall

11 2.1 29.7 3.3

Notveryimportant

10.5 5.8 3.4 5

Neutral 4.2 3.8 2.2 11.7Important 49.8 63.6 44.8 46.7Vitalforplantsandanimals

19.8 22.3 5 13.3

Idonotknow 4.6 2.4 14.9 20

Doyouthinkthatyoucouldearnmoremoneyifyouhadsecureaccesstowater? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNo,Idonot 20.5 26.1 37.6 1.7Yes 61.4 63.2 38 66.7Idonotknow 18.1 10.7 24.3 31.6


• Awarenessabouttheinterrelationshipsbetweenwateravailabilityandsocioeconomicdevelopmentshouldberaisedinordertoencouragewater-savingmeasuresandrainwaterharvesting.

Objective5–Reducewater-relatedtensionsorconflictsintargetmunicipalities

Howoftendoyouhaveconflictsovertheuseofwaterwithotherwaterusers? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataNever 51.5 56.7 83.7 91.7Onceeveryyear 28.5 11 4.4 6.7Onceevery6months

11 17.9 3.4 1.7

Onceeverymonth

6.8 9.3 3.6

Onceeveryweek 0.6 4.8 4.4 Onceaday 1.7 0.3 0.6

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Inyouropinionwhatisthebestsolutionforreducingconflicts? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataSufficientwaterforallsectors

79.3 50.2 51.2 56.7

Equalparticipationofallconsumersinwatermanagementplanning

13.8 19.2 10.4 16.7

Improvedaccesstowater

4.4 26.8 11 26.7

Reducedwaterpollution

2.3 3.8 27.5


• Themosteffectivewaystoreduceconflictsovertheuseofwateramongdifferentusersareto:

o secureenoughwaterforallsectorsbyadequatewatermanagementplanning(withtheinvolvementofallinterestedpartiesintheprocess);and

o improveaccesstowater.

• Asignificantdifferenceinthepricepaidforwatershouldbeintroducedbetweenhouseholdsthatconsumereasonableamountsofwaterandhouseholdsthatconsumelargeramountsofwater(i.e.bigdifferencesinpricingcategoriestoachieveequaldistribution).

• Mosquesandchurchesshouldbeencouragedtoplayanactiveroleinraisingawarenessoftheimportanceofwaterandtheneedfortheequitabledistributionofwater.

Informationaboutwateravailabilityandusesandquality

Whatisyourmainusesofwater? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataDomestic 81.4 88.7 99.2 76.7Gardening 1.9 2.1 0.6 15Farming 16.7 9.3 0.2 8.3

Doyougetenoughwaterforyourmainuse? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataYes 40.5 58.1 32.1 41.7Never 40.1 10.3 12 1.7Mostdays 19.4 31.6 56 56.7

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Isthewaterofanappropriatequalityforyourmainuse? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataYes 61.8 59.1 59 75No 38.2 40.9 41 25Idonotknow

Isthewaterprovidedatapricethatyoucanafford? SidiAliBenAoun BirMcherga Nefza MatmataYes 53.2 61.9 56.2 65No 46.8 38.1 43.8 35

Recommendationsprovidedbythelocalteams

• Asadequatewaterquantityisaproblemformorethan50percentofrespondents,whilewaterpollutionishighlightedasaproblemforabout40percentofrespondents,andevenfewerinMatmata(only25percent),publicawarenesscampaignsshouldnotonlyfocusonwaterpollutionreductionathouseholdlevelbutshouldalsoencouragerationalwaterconsumption.

• Thefollowingsolutionswereproposedbylocalcoordinatorstoimprovewaterquantity:

o BirMcherga:

- householdsshouldbeconnectedtothedrinkingwatersupplysystem;

- wastewaterreuseinagricultureshouldbeintroduced;

- watershouldbetransferredfromthenorthernregion;and

- desalinationshouldbeused.

o Matmata:

- drinkingwatersupplysystemsshouldberefurbished;

- hydraulicstructuresandwaterreservoirsshouldbeprotectedfromsedimentbuild-up;

- waterandsoilconservationtechniquesshouldbeimproved;and

- abandonedwellsshouldbemaintainedandreactivatedwherepossible.

o Nefza:

- rationalwaterconsumptionshouldbeencouragedviaspecialawarenesscampaignsinurbanareaswheredrinkingwaterisregularlyavailable;

- graduatedpricingshouldbeapplied;and

- technicalassistanceshouldbeprovidedtocitizensinthevicinityoftheSidiElBarrakDaminordertomaintainthisimportantresource.

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Country-specificconclusionsforTunisia

Thesurveyresultsindicatethatthemajorityofrespondents(over80percentacrossallmunicipalities)usewaterfordomesticpurposes,whiletheuseofwaterforgardeningandfarmingisrelativelyuncommon.Thequalityofthewatersuppliedisconsideredacceptablebyover60percentofrespondents(inMatmatatheproportionissignificantlyhigher:75percentofrespondentsratethequalityofwaterasappropriatefortheirmainuse).Resultsconcerningthequantityofwatersuppliedvary:40percentofrespondentsinSidi Ali Ben Aoun claim they never receive sufficient water for their main use, while 98 percent ofrespondentsinMatmatastatethattheyreceivesufficientorrelativelysufficientamountsofwater.Thepriceofwaterisstatedasaffordablebyanaverageof60percentofsurveyrespondents.OnedistinctiveresultinNefzaisthat99.2percentofrespondentsclaimthattheyusewaterfordomesticpurposesonly,while almost 20 percent of respondents in Sidi Ali BenAoun claim they usewater for gardening andfarming.

Intermsofthewaysinwhichinformationaboutwaterqualityisreceived,thereisawidedistributionofresponsesinpartnercommunitiesinTunisia.Theproportionofthosewhoclaimtheyneverreceiveanyinformationvariesfrombetween60and76percentinSidiAlibenAounandNefza,tobetween28and33percentinMatmataandBirMcherga.Asimilardistributionofresponsescanbeobservedtothequestionaboutinformationongovernmentplansforimprovingwaterquality,combatingwaterscarcityandrelatedissues.InSidiAliBenAounandNefza,over60percentofrespondentsclaimthattheydonotreceiveanyinformationaboutwaterquality.However,itisworthnotingthatthemajorityofrespondentsinSidiAliBenAoun(53.5percent)wouldopttoreceiveinformationonwaterqualityonlyonceayear.

Themajorityofrespondentswhostatethattheyreceivesomeinformationonwaterqualityandwatermanagement and planning state that they receive this information at village meetings. A notabledifference from this pattern are Bir Mcherga andMatmata delegations, where about 30 percent ofrespondentslearnaboutwaterqualityfromthetelevisionandotherelectronicmedia.Alargeproportionofrespondents(rangingbetween70and86percent)confirmthattheirlocalauthoritiesneverprovidethemwithanyinformationrelatedtowaterqualityorwaterplansandprogrammesintheircommunities.Thereisanotablecorrelationbetweenthepercentageofrespondentswhoclaimtheydonotreceiveanyinformationonwaterqualityandthosewhoclaimtheydonotreceiveanyinformationongovernmentalplansforimprovingwaterquality.Inaddition,onaverage7percentofrespondentswouldneverliketoreceive informationaboutwaterquality fromtheir localauthorities,withtheexceptionofSidiAliBenAoun,where32percentofrespondentsmakethisclaim.

Theproportionof responses concerningawish to receive informationaboutwaterquality from localauthoritiesrangesfrom67to98percent,confirmingthatthereisasignificantgapbetweentheamountofinformationprovidedandtheamountofinformationneededbymembersofthelocalpopulationinallpartnerdelegations.Thiscorrespondstothefindingthat60to90percentofrespondentsclaimthatlocalauthoritiesneverprovideinformationrelatedtowaterplansandprogrammesintheircommunities.Anaverageof50percentofrespondentsacrosspartnermunicipalitiesstatethattheyrequestinformationaboutwaterqualityandmanagementfromtheirlocalauthoritiesatleastonceayear,whilearound60percentconfirmthattheyexpresstheiropiniononwater-relatedproblemstotheir localauthoritiesatleastonceayearormorefrequently.Thesefindingsshouldbeseeninthecontextoftheresultthat40to80 percent of local residents are never invited to participate at meetings (events) related to water

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managementandplanningintheirmunicipalities,whilethestatedleveloftheacceptanceofcontributionstowatermanagementplanningprocessesrangesfrom13to88percent.

These results could imply that local residents have a relatively low level of trust in their municipaladministration,andthattheyrarelygetinvolvedinwatermanagementplanningatthemunicipallevel.Onetellingstatementfromasurveyparticipantsumsupthecurrentsituation:“It isrequiredfromtheNationalWaterDistributionUtility,aswellastheWUA,toorganiseawarenessprogrammesespeciallyinruralareas,andnottobelimitedtoissuingwaterbills.”

Itseemsthatopportunitiesforaddressingwatermanagementandplanningissuesarescarce,althoughthere isarelativeopennesstoexternal inputs,which leavesthepossibilityforsometransparencyandpublicparticipationintheseprocesses.ThepositionoflocalauthoritiesinthisregardshouldbeviewedinthecontextofastronglycentralisedsystemofwaterdistributioninTunisiaandlimitedavailableresourcesforthedistributionofwater-relatedinformationinthefield.

A large proportion of respondents (ranging from 70 to 96 percent) state that they are interested inreceiving information about water-saving techniques in their homes, while 60 to 65 percent ofrespondents claim that they try to savewater in their homes in Sidi Ali Ben Aoun andNefza,with asignificantlyhigherproportioninBirMcherga(82percent)andMatmata(95percent).Inconjunctionwiththis,theproportionofrespondentswhousetapwatertowashtheircarsorwatertheirgardensrangesbetween27and45percent,with theexceptionofMatmata,where theproportion is67percent.Onaverage, 50 percent of respondents harvest rainwater in partner communities,with the exception ofMatmatawhere94percentofrespondentsdoso.ItisinterestingtonotethatresponsesfromMatmataindicatethatalmostallrespondentsclaimtosavewaterintheirhomesandcollectrainwater,although67percentofthemusewaterforwashingtheircarsandwateringtheirgardens.Theseresultsshouldalsobeviewedinconjunctionwiththeresultsaboutwaterquantityandwater-relatedconflicts,as92percentofrespondentsinMatamataclaimthattheyneverhaveconflictsoverwaterwithotherusersandthattheirwatersupplyismostlysufficient(98.3percent).

Theimportance(currentandfuture)ofwaterqualitytotheabundanceofplantandanimalspecieslivingin their communities is ratedby49 to85percentof respondentsas importantor vital forplantsandanimals,whilearound65percentof respondents claim that they couldearnmoremoney if theyhadsecureaccesstowater.TheonlystrikingresultisfromNefza,wherealmost45percentofrespondentsclaimthateithertheydonotknowabout,orthattheydeny,theimportance(currentandfuture)ofwaterqualitytotheabundanceofplantandanimalspecieslivingintheircommunities.

Theseresultsimplythatcitizensinpartnerdelegationshavesomeawarenessaboutwatermanagementanditsimplicationsfortheireverydaylives,andthattheyaresomewhatmotivatedtotakeactiontosavewater. There seems to be a pronounced awareness about the interrelationships between wateravailabilityandsocioeconomicdevelopmentasamotivationforwatersavingandrainwaterharvesting,with theexceptionofNefzadelegation,whereadditional action shouldbe taken inorder toenhanceknowledgeofwater-relatedissues.

Thefrequencyofconflictswithotherwaterusersinpartnercommunitiesisratedataround50percentinSidiAliBenAounandBirMcherga,while inNefzaandMatmatatherateforthis indicator isabove80percent.Sufficientwaterforallsectorsisseenbyover50percentofrespondentsastheprimarysolutiontowater-relatedconflicts.Almost80percentofrespondentsinSidiAliBenAounalsoconfirmthis.Some

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strikingresultswereobtainedfromBirMchergaandNefza,where27percentofrespondentsclaimthatimprovedaccesstowateristhebestsolutiontowater-relatedconflicts,and28percentstatethatthebestsolutionisreducedwaterpollution.

OverviewofpublicopinionassessmentresultsperpartnerdelegationinTunisiaBirMchergadelegation

Thepublicopinionassessmentquestionnaireonwater-relatedissueswascarriedoutinthedelegationofBirMcherga.Thefieldassessmentresults forBirMcherga,basedon291answers inthedatabase,arepresentedbelow.Resultscanbealsoaccessedviatheprojectwebsite.


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Matmatadelegation

Thepublicopinionassessmentquestionnaireonwater-relatedissueswascarriedoutinthedelegationofMatmata in Tunisia. Field assessment results forMatmata, basedon60answers in thedatabase, arepresentedbelow.Theresultscanbealsoaccessedviatheprojectwebsite.


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Nefzadelegation

Thepublicopinionassessmentquestionnaireonwater-relatedissueswascarriedoutinthedelegationofNefza in Tunisia. The field assessment results in Nefza, based on 502 answers in the database, arepresentedbelow.Resultscanalsobeaccessedviatheprojectwebsite.


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3.Bringaboutbehaviouralchangeinrelationtowaterutilisationpatternsintargetmunicipalities

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4.Improvepublicawarenessabouttheimpactofwaterscarcityonbiodiversity,theenvironmentandlocalsocioeconomicdevelopment

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5.Reducewater-relatedtensionsorconflictsintargetmunicipalities

6.Informationaboutwateravailability,useandquality

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7.Informationabouttherespondents

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SidiAliBenAoundelegation

InthedelegationofSidiAliBenAoun,290peoplefilledinandsubmittedthepublicopinionassessmentquestionnaires,whichwereprocessedviaanon-linesystemavailableontheprojectwebsite.


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Generalconclusions

Publicopinionassessments,carriedoutusingthemethodologypresentedatthebeginningofthisreport,were successfully completed in partnermunicipalities and delegationswithin theWater and Security(WaSe)componentoftheWATERSUMproject:

- inJordan,inthemunicipalitiesofAjloun,AlKarak,JerashandAl-Salt;and- inTunisia,inthedelegationsofNefza,BirMcherga,MatmataandSidiAliBenAoun.

ThepublicopinionassessmentswereorganisedandcarriedoutbyIUCNRegionalOfficeforWestAsia.

Thepublicopinionassessmenthelped theWATERSUMproject team togainanunderstandingof theopinions,attitudesandexperiencesofpeopleinJordanandTunisia,whowereinterviewedlocallyintheirmunicipalitiesanddelegations.Opinionsandattitudeswerecollected inparticular inrelationtowatermanagement,watergovernanceandwatersecurity,aswellasinrelationtoinformationonwaterandinformation onwater development andmanagement projects. The assessmentwas a very importantcontributiontothesuccessoftheactionplanningprocess.

Theresultsofthepublicopinionassessmentsclearlyshowtheneedtoimproveinformationflowbetweenlocal authorities and local people. Stakeholders with limited access to information or a low level ofknowledgearedefinedasaprioritytargetgroupforcommunicationstrategiesatthelevelofmunicipalityordelegation,althoughtheyarealsoarelevanttargetforregionalandnationalcommunicationstrategies.

Thefindingsoftheregionalsurveyindicatethatthemajorityofrespondents(over80percentacrossallpartner communities in Jordan and Tunisia) use water for domestic purposes, while using water forgardeningandfarmingisrelativelyuncommon.Respondentsstatethatthequalityofwatertheyreceiveisrelativelylow.Pollutionisasignificantproblemforover50percentofrespondentsinJordan,althoughitisconsideredacceptablebyover60percentofrespondentsinTunisia(inMatmata,theproportionissignificantlyhigher,with75percentofrespondentsratingwaterqualityasappropriatefortheirmainuse).

Results concerning the quantity of water supplied are more disaggregated. In Jordan, 70 percent ofrespondentsconsidertheamountofwatertheyreceivetobesufficientorrelativelysufficient,whiletheprice ofwater is declared affordable by around 70 percent of survey respondents. In Tunisia, resultsconcerningsatisfactionwiththequantityofwatersuppliedvarybetween40and98percentindifferentcommunities.

The price ofwater is declared affordable by an average of 65 percent of survey respondents in bothcountries.

Therearesignificantdifferencesconcerningthedisseminationofwater-relatedinformationtocitizens.InJordan,theproportionofthosewhoclaimtheydonotreceiveanyinformationvariesbetween6and12percent,while inTunisia thedistributionofresponses ismorevaried,with28to76percentofsurveyrespondents stating that they do not receive any information onwater quality and planning. Similardistribution patterns can be observed concerning responses to the question about information ongovernmentplansforimprovingwaterquality,combatingwaterscarcityandrelatedissues.Concerningsources of information about water quality, television is the predominant source in all partnercommunities in Jordan, while a more significant proportion of respondents in Tunisia receive suchinformationatvillagemeetings.Itisworthnotingthecorrelationbetweenthepercentageofrespondents

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whoclaimtheydonotreceiveanyinformationonwaterqualityandthosewhoclaimtheydonotreceiveanyinformationongovernmentalplansforimprovingwaterquality.Inaddition,onlyasmallproportionofrespondentsinbothcountrieswouldlikenevertoreceiveinformationaboutwaterqualityfromtheirlocalauthorities.Consequently,thesefindingsimplythatlocalresidentshavearelativelylowleveloftrustin theirmunicipaladministrationand limited interest in takingpart inwatermanagementplanning. Itseemsthatopportunitiesforthepublictoaddresswatermanagementandplanningarerare,althoughthere isarelativeopennesstoexternal inputs,which leavesthepossibilityforsometransparencyandpublicparticipationintheseprocesses.Thepositionoflocalauthoritiesinthisregardshouldbeviewedinthecontextofapoorlydecentralisedsystemoflocalgovernanceandwaterdistributioninbothcountriesandalimitedamountofresourcesavailableforthedistributionofwater-relatedinformation.

TheresultsconcerningwatersavingarecomparableinJordanandTunisia,asbetween85and94percent,andbetween70and96percentofrespondentsrespectively,statethattheyareinterestedinreceivinginformationaboutwater-savingtechniquesintheirhomes.Onaverage,65percentofrespondentsclaimthattheytrytosavewaterintheirhomes.Theresultsimplythatcitizensinpartnercommunitieshavesomeawarenessaboutwatermanagementanditsimplicationsfortheireverydaylives,andthattheyaresomewhatmotivatedtotakeactiontosavewater.Itseemsthatthereisnopronouncedawarenessaboutthe interrelationshipsbetweenwater availability and socioeconomicdevelopmentas amotivation forwatersavingandrainwaterharvesting,andsuchawarenessshouldbeenhanced.

Thefrequencyofconflictswithotherwaterusers inpartnercommunities inTunisia isdiverse,rangingfrom50to80percent,whileinJordanthefrequencyofconflictsbetweenrespondentsandotherwaterusers inthepartnercommunities isrelatively lower(between30and55percentofrespondentsclaimthat they never have such conflicts). Sufficient water for all sectors is seen by over 50 percent ofrespondentsinbothcountriesastheprimarysolutiontowater-relatedconflicts,whiletheparticipationofallwaterusersinmanagementandplanningisseenasthebesttooltoreducetheseconflictsbyaroundathirdofrespondents.

Thiscouldimplythatthemajorityofrespondentshaveregularaccesstowaterofsufficientqualityfortheirmainuse,althoughthepercentageofrespondentswhoclaimthatsufficientwaterforallsectorsis,in their opinion, the best solution for reducing water-related conflicts greatly varies among partnercommunities.Thiscouldpotentiallyimplythatthemajorityofrespondentsinbothcountriesareopentoreceiving water-related information, and hence to becoming involved, in water planning in theircommunities. Finally, this also confirms the assumption that citizens are interested andmotivated toparticipateinwatermanagementandplanningprocesses.Takingintoconsiderationtheresultsofthepublicopinionassessmentsineachpartnermunicipalityanddelegation, the local planning teams further worked on the planning process to develop local watersecurityactionplansfortheirrespectivecommunities.

Themethodologypresentedherewasused in the eight partnermunicipalities anddelegations in theWATERSUMproject.However,webelievethatitisalsoapplicableinotherlocalcommunitiesthatareinterestedindevelopinglocalenvironmentalactionplanswithvariousfocusissues,orthatareinterestedinassessingpublicopinioninJordan,TunisiaandothercountriesintheMENAregionandbeyond.

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References

1. Websiteoftheproject“SustainableUseofTransboundaryWaterResourcesandWaterSecurityManagement”(WATERSUM)(watersum.rec.org)

2. S.Milutinović,R.Laušević,J.Petersen-Perlman,M.BartulaandA.Solujić(2016).LocalWaterSecurityAssessmentforImprovedWaterManagementinSelectedCountriesintheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica(MENA)Region.Technicalreportfortheproject“SustainableUseofTransboundaryWaterResourcesandWaterSecurityManagement”(WATERSUM),Component2:WaterandSecurity.RegionalEnvironmentalCenter,Szentendre,Hungary.ISBN978-963-9638-70-9

3. R.Lausevic,S.Milutinovic,J.Petersen-Perlman,M.Reed,A.Graves,M.Bartula,S.Susic,A.Popovic(2016).LocalWaterSecurityActionPlanningManual.RegionalEnvironmentalCenter,Szentendre,Hungary.ISBN978-963-9638-69-3

4. A.GravesandM.Bartula:Step05,PublicOpinionAssessment.In:R.Lausevic,S.Milutinovic,J.Petersen-Perlman,M.Reed,A.Graves,M.Bartula,S.Susic,A.Popovic(2016).LocalWaterSecurityActionPlanningManual.RegionalEnvironmentalCenter,Szentendre,Hungary.ISBN978-963-9638-69-3,Pages39–49.

http://watersum.rec.org

http://www.rec.org/publication.php?id=611





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Annexes

Annex1.Water-relatedpublicopinionassessmentquestionnaire(English)

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Annex2.Water-relatedpublicopinionassessmentquestionnaire(Arabic)

watersum.rec.org

In the framework of the Water and Security (WaSe) component of the

WATER SUM project, a public opinion assessment was undertaken in

local communities in Jordan (the municipalities of Al Karak, Jerash,

Al-Salt and Ajloun) and Tunisia (the delegations of Sidi Ali Ben Aoun,

Bir Mcherga, Nefza and Matmata) in relation to water management,

water governance and water security. The questionnaire also gathered

information on water development and management projects.

The public opinion assessment is one of the key steps in the creation of

local water security action plans, as described in the WATER SUM Local

Water Security Action Planning Manual. This document presents the

results of public opinion assessments carried out in Jordan and Tunisia.

watersum.rec.org

public opinion assessmentdocuments.rec.org/publications/public_opinion_assessment...in the framework...

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