|
Objective
EMWIS seeks to facilitate access to existing information
on know-how in the water sector. It promotes sharing
useful information from different institutions and
stimulates the development of co-operation programmes at
the regional and national levels.
How does EMWIS work?
EMWIS is providing validated water information using the
Internet in a decentralised way. The project supports and
encourages the partners in the Mediterranean area to
establish their own water information systems. The
information is not put in a common database but remains at
the level of the providers. Each information source will
guarantee the quality, updating and the reliability of the
information. This approach is now being followed in Latin
America with
SIAGUA and in Africa with
AWIS.
EMWIS has a central Technical Unit and a National Focal
Point in each country. The central Technical Unit is based
in France and is a permanent structure. The National Focal
Points are small teams within a public or semi
governmental organisation in charge of the collection and
dissemination of information related to the water sector.
Together with the National Focal Points, the Technical
Unit prepares implementation strategies and annual action
plans and it supports the National Focal Points in their
implementation.
Added value
EMWIS has been the first operational initiative and
co-operation system of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership
in the water sector at the regional level. It provides a
framework for cooperation between national water
authorities around the Mediterranean area. EMWIS is acting
as a public access point for water information and
facilitates the ex-change of experiences and the access to
water knowledge.
In the longer term, the development of National Water
Information Systems initiated by the project will allow
for better water management and creates a mechanism to
monitor the achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals and the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable
Development in the field of water and sanitation.
Project partners
EMWIS works with 10 institutions from the MEDA countries
Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco,
Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey and 10 institutions
from the EU countries Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France,
Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Spain. The
project is coordinated by UT SEMIDE, a specially created
consortium of 3 institutions from the EU countries France,
Italy and Spain. |
