Working Group on the Environment
Gavelholder's Mission to the Middle East
March 21 - 25, Jordan, WB/GS and Israel
- Final Report -
June, 1999
Introduction
The mission, composed of experts from Austria, Canada, Germany, EU, Japan, US, World Bank and ICARDA and headed by the Gavelholder of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), visited Jordan, West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel from March 21 to 25, 1999, and visited a number of environmental projects and sites. The mission also met with the representatives from governments and relevant institutions / organizations in the region.
The objectives of the mission can be summarized as follows: Firstly, to engage in fact finding and information gathering of fundamental environmental conditions in the region for the purpose of providing basic information to the WG members for consideration. Secondly, to evaluate ongoing environment projects. Thirdly, to acquire first hand information and knowledge of the possible future environmental cooperation in the region which are suitable for the WG activities.
In setting up the mission programs, the three regional parties primarily made their own choices for the selection of visiting sites and projects, in accordance with basic suggestions set forth by the Gavelholder. Because of the very limited time available, the coverage of both ongoing and potential projects were obviously not comprehensive. However, having received strong support from the regional parties, the mission was able to have as much information as one could possibly observe - more than 20 sites and projects with a number of meetings and discussions in between - in its five-day programs (see appendix I and II for the final program and the list of participants).
The Gavelholder and the members of the mission wish to take this opportunity to express appreciation for the support and cooperation extended by the regional members.
Observations
The three regional parties welcomed the mission and expressed appreciation for the efforts of the EWG in taking this initiative to review the environmental conditions by themselves and discuss environmental concerns in the region with the regional authorities concerned.
Despite the differences in the magnitude of environmental deterioration and to some extent fundamental nature of the problems among the three regional parties, the parties stressed the same sense of urgency in improving the current environmental deterioration in the region by means of increased international collaboration.
The mission visited various environmental projects in the region on topics including water quality management, wastewater treatment, bio-diversity, eco-tourism and desertification control, just to name a few. Despite the fact that steady progress was observed for some of the projects at the national level, the mission noted with concern that there is an insufficiency of regional cooperative perspective in the conduct of certain projects, as well as a lack of coordination in the implementation of the projects.
In the course of the tour, the mission also visited environmental "hot spots" in the region. The mission was able to observe the current status of wastewater discharge, solid waste dumping, air pollution and maritime pollution in the region, and recognized that some of the "hot spots" needed urgent improvement with well coordinated international cooperation.
It was also noted during the mission programs that there are considerable gaps between the regional parties on the level of environmental awareness, legal administration, human resource availability and environmental infrastructure.
In Jordan, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature expressed their willingness to coordinate regional training programs, and asked for donor support for the early establishment of the Regional Environmental Training Center.
In the West Bank / Gaza, the mission was informed that the presidential decree was announced to establish the Ministry for Environmental Affairs (MEnA) under His Excellency Dr. Yousef Abu-Safia as Minister, merging the Palestinian Environmental Authority (PEnA). The Palestinian Authority also stressed the need to have a local training center that can meet the immediate environmental requirements at the local level.
In Israel, the Ministry of Environment offered to host a regional training program on environmental economics, and the Blaustein Institute of Desert Studies expressed their willingness to accept students from the region to conduct Master's courses on desert studies.
Recommendations and Next Steps
Based on what has been observed and discussed in the course of the mission, the Gavelholder of the EWG recommends that the following seven points be the basic guidelines for the future activities of the EWG.
<Basic Guidelines>
1. Flexibility:
Donors and the regional parties in the EWG should have greater flexibility in coordinating projects and in the use of limited funds available, in order to facilitate multilateral activities with efficiency and effectiveness.
2. Coordination:
Donors and the regional parties should keep better coordination on a continuous basis in implementing regional activities. More precisely, the EWG should strive to improve coordination first amongst donors, second amongst the regional parties, third between donors and regional parties, and above anything else, within each regional party.
3. Wider engagement:
The EWG should seek wider engagement of the authorities concerned, comprising the private sector, local and international NGOs, and above all the public, in dealing with regional environmental problems.
4. Dissociation from external conditions:
Because of the urgent need to tackle environmental deterioration in the region, the EWG activities must focus on the technical aspects of the regional environmental problems, and must avoid being hampered by the external conditions in the region.
5. Regional aspects:
Each regional party has its own national/local environmental needs. Activities of the EWG, by their very nature, are designed to be carried out on a regional basis. During the development of the EWG activities, the regional parties, while taking into consideration their national/local needs, should focus on those activities that can and should be done in a regional context.
6. Action oriented:
In view of the pressing needs to improve rapidly deteriorating environmental conditions in the region, any future activities of the EWG must be action oriented.
7. Code of Conduct as reference:
The Bahrain Environmental Code of Conduct (BCC) must always be regarded as the basic reference of the EWG, and its activities must attempt to implement measures that are stipulated in the BCC.
<Roles of the EWG>
As a set of measures to promote the EWG activities on the basis of the above guidelines, the Gavelholder proposes the following:
- The EWG should play an increased role in monitoring the environmental activities, and consulting and coordinating with the regional parties whenever necessary to promote regional cooperation.
- Information on various environmental projects - both those being done multilaterally and those being done in the context of bilateral assistance programs - should be disseminated among the EWG members on a more regular basis, so as to enable the members to have up-to-date information concerning environmental activities in the region, and to explore the possibility of formulating regional projects.
- Relations with relevant environmental authorities must be strengthened wherever necessary in order to collect up-to-date information on environmental projects in the region. In particular, for the West Bank / Gaza, stronger relationship with the Sectoral Working Group on the Environment under the LACC (Local Aid Coordination Committee) should be established.
- More flexible communication channels, including electronic communica-tion means such as e-mails and the World Wide Web, must be established to facilitate information exchanges among the EWG members.
- Capacity building of the relevant environmental authorities, institutions and organizations in the region must be promoted in the context of the EWG, in order to promote smooth implementation of regional cooperation.
- The ongoing EWG activities, especially the regional environmental training programs and the World Bank Initiative on Desertification Control, must be sustained and promoted in a flexible manner. The EWG must seriously consider the establishment of a focal point for promoting environmental training programs on a sustainable basis, as discussed at the EWG Informal Donor Consultations in December, 1998.
- Evaluation of the performance of the EWG activities so far and reviewing of the principles outlined in the earlier meetings may be necessary to place in clearer perspective as to where this group stands today and what needs to be done in the future.
<Priority Areas for the Future EWG Activities>
Based upon the observation in the region, the mission proposes the following seven areas as priority areas for the future activities of the EWG.
1. Water quality management, wastewater treatment and recycling
In a region where water is always in the center of issues, more efforts by the donors, in close collaboration with the Water WG, must be made in the field of water quality management, wastewater treatment and the recycling of treated wastewater.
Concrete measures needed are (i) construction of wastewater treatment facilities of varying types and sizes, (ii) human capacity building, (iii) provision of computerized monitoring systems, (iv) technical cooperation to enhance recycling of water, etc. In this respect, the testing results of the "Joukasou" system, or a simple wastewater treatment unit, installed by the mission in the West Bank must be carefully followed.
2. Solid / hazardous waste management
Solid and hazardous wastes are virtually disposed of without any control, thus posing serious and eminent danger to the deterioration of environment in many quarters of the region. Technical cooperation, ranging from the drafting of laws and regulations, human capacity building to actual gathering of wastes is urgently required.
3. Air pollution
Of all the different types of air pollution in the region, one that requires quick coordinated action is in the area of the control of air dust produced by the stone quarries, particularly in the West Bank.
4. Institutional streamlining / building
There are significant overlaps in terms of the jurisdiction of the environment controlling agencies, which result in the inefficient use of limited fund and human resources available.
5. Desertification
There are a few excellent projects undertaken by the World Bank and by the regional members in the area of desertification. These projects should be given full support by the regional as well as donor governments, because of its common merits to counties in the region.
6. Maritime pollution
Maritime pollution or contamination of maritime environment in Gaza coastal zone and Gulf of Aqaba may pose serious threat to human life and natural environment. Comprehensive and well prioritized actions both by the regional members and by the donor community are urgently needed.
7. Public awareness
"Environment nihilism" or people's lack of consideration for the deteriorating environmental conditions of their own community can be noticed in many parts of the region. This can be changed only through well coordinated and carefully planned public awareness campaigns aiming at school pupils and ordinary citizens on a sustainable basis.
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