Supporting Jordan’sWater Scarcity and Drought

Preparedness and Mitigation Plan

DESA and UN Partners (ECA, FAO, WMO, UNISDR, UNEP, UNCCD, UNDP)

The Capacity Building Program on Water Scarcity and Drought Preparedness and Mitigation Plan for Jordan

Outline

Jordan Water Scarcity and Drought Challenges Overview

Existing Water Scarcity and Drought Programs and Gaps

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Jordan is one of the most arid countries in the world

• Jordan is one of the most drought vulnerable countries in the region. • Droughts that occurred in all Arab countries in the last

three decades affected most of the Mashreq and Maghreb regions, where Jordan locates.

• In Jordan, the most vulnerable to drought are the small farmers and herders. • The 1999 drought caused estimated only 1% of cereals

and 40% of read meat and milk harvested in Jordan . • Also in Jordan around 30% of sheep flock died or was

slaughtered prematurely in 1997 drought .• At least 70% of camel herd died due to the drought effect

of the period 1958 and 1962.

The Impacts of Droughts on Jordan

Agriculture Municipal uses Industry Tourism0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70% 64%

30%

5% 1%

Jordan's Water Useage Allocation

Depiction of waves of refugees into Jordan

Uncertainty of Water Scarcity and Drought Management for Jordan -Refugees challenge

Jordan’s main agriculture areas Jordan’s two main water basin

Uncertainty of Water Scarcity and Drought Management for Jordan-Tansboundary Water challenge

The main existing water sources in Jordan are Yarmuk and Jordan Basins. But Jordan does not have the control of the headwaters, which raises concerns about the water resource security for the country.

Annual precipitation prediction under different climate change scenarios

Drought frequency and duration Projection for Jordan under different climate change scenarios

Uncertainty of Water Scarcity and Drought Management for Jordan -Climate change challenge

• ESCWA initiated a study in 2004, which investigated climatic, water resource, agricultural, environmental and socio-economic vulnerabilities, and tried to establish the drought early warning and mitigation strategies in the ESCWA region, citing Jordan as one of the case studies.

• FAO had funded a drought monitoring and mitigation planning in Jordan in 2005. The Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with FAO implemented a project entitled t he drought mitigation strategy in Jordan “this project ended mid of 2007.

• UNDP have made the effort to help Jordan to develop drought management strategy and action plan since 2006.

• In January 2008, ICARDA hosted a workshop about the applicability of guidelines of managing drought risk using preparedness plans and early warning systems which included specific guideline for Jordan.

• GEF funded a project1 to identify priority research topics in combating desertification, which directly generated <The National Climate Change Policy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 2013-2020> for Jordan.

• Domestically, Leaded by Jordan Ministry of Environment, dozens of projects, programs and policies2 have been established and implemented in Jordan.

Jordan’s Efforts Toward a Better Water Scarcity and Drought Management Plan

• Regional Sharing of Drought Information• Impacts assessment • Monitoring and Early Warning Systems• Drought Projection• Standard Management Approaches• Standard Mitigation Plan

Identified Technical Gaps for Managing Water Scarcity and Drought in Jordan

• The Drought National Action Plan (NAP) is still a new document that requires an effective awareness program and a resource mobilization strategy. It can be considered as a framework for action at the country level. A precise reference was made to it in the National Agenda.

• The involved ministries and organizations do not include the actions stated in the NAP in their plans or projects. In each ministry, there is no unit specialized and responsible for drought issues, rather the responsibilities are scattered between various sections.

• The ministry of environment’s role is limited to calling meetings and updating strategies and policies concerning drought. There is a need to expand this role in order to establish coordinate between various ministries so that the drought action plans are included in the ministries plans and projects.

• The Metrological department is not a member of the steering committee.

• The Steering committee meets every 3 months. Members are absent frequently and the meeting’s agenda items are not met within a timely fashion.

• The members in the steering committee changes frequently, which affects the follow up and understanding of the agreed upon issues.

Identified Implementation Gapsfor Managing Water Scarcity and Drought in Jordan

The objectives of the program are:• Rise awareness and enhance the national preparedness. • Improve Jordan drought monitoring and forecasting capacity.• Establish drought early warning systems(networks) in Jordan.• Develop and Adopt standardized drought management planes and

mitigation approaches for Jordan.

UN-DESA will achieve the objectives through:• Foster high-level political forums, workshops, training sessions and

regional dialogs.• Exchange of accumulated knowledge and best management practices

(BMPs).• Provide technical and capacity building support. • Facilitate further coordination and cooperation with international and

regional initiatives.

The Goal of UN-DESA <The Water Scarcity and Drought Preparedness and Mitigation Plan> is: To enhance Jordan’s water scarcity and drought management capacity and assist Jordan to further develop and implement the strategies and plans.

Thank you!

Feel free to contact:Sami Areikat, Sustainable Development Officer

Water, Energy and Capacity Development BranchDivision for Sustainable DevelopmentUN –DESAUnited Nations, Room S-2651405 42nd Street New York, NY 10017Tel. 212-963-7844Fax. 917-367-3391E-mail: areikat@un.orgWebsite: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org