The Situation
The water sector in the Arab region suffers from chronic problems, such as water scarcity, weak water and environmental policies, high investment needs, lack of management and technical capacity, increasing demand due to growing populations, and conflict.
ACWUA’s Mandate
The Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) was founded in April 2007. Since January 2009, a permanent secretariat is established.
ACWUA, as a regional center of excellence, will partner with water supply and wastewater utilities in Arab countries to provide best practice service delivery to their customers through:
- Serve as regional platform for exchange of knowledge and best practice amongst member experts and professionals.
- Develop resources, facilitate training programs, and advocate for professional certification to enable member utility staff to perform their duties in a professional, reliable and cost-effective manner.
- Promote standards of performance for the governance, management, operation and maintenance of water supply and wastewater utilities.
- Support the interests of ACWUA members including the provision of advice and consultation in water legislation, policies, and sector management and reform.
- Develop, promote and disseminate publications and other knowledge products to meet the needs of members and other regional professionals.
ACWUA provides a regional advocacy platform for its members to interact effectively with each other and with governments, private sector suppliers and service providers, as well as foreign aid programs to the mutual benefit of all concerned.
It seeks also to build capacity in the sector to ensure an adequacy of trained human resources to operate and maintain existing infrastructure, expand investments and improve overall service quality and delivery. ACWUA will provide intellectual leadership and a platform for the advancement of utility management practices by encouraging experience exchange, know-how transfer and the adoption of international best practices in the fields of potable water supply and wastewater management.
ACWUA provides a forum for experience exchange and mutual support to improve its members’ performance, raise service standards, upgrade the utilities’ capacity to recruit and retain qualified staff, attract investments, and develop a legal and regulatory framework to promote the interest of their consumers.