This paper is based on a longer study conducted by the authors for and financed by the German Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) within the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) project ‘Stabilization and Development in the Middle East and North Africa’. [...] Nexus projects support energy efficiency in water treatment plants and the reuse of wastewater for agriculture within several countries, and at transboundary level, as in the case of Syria-Lebanon.17 Many of these projects are technically focused capacity-development initiatives in the water and energy sectors implemented by regional organisations such as the Arab Water Council and UN-ESCWA. [...] Important regional players on the WEFE nexus include the Arab Water Council,21 the Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC), the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM22), projects implemented by UN-ESCWA, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank, and bilateral initiatives, including those involving the United States. [...] The Jordan River and the Dead Sea, one of the region’s largest ecosystems, has attracted numerous initiatives and transboundary projects, including the EcoPeace Middle East plan for the Jordan Valley31 and the controversial Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal.32 Initiatives along the Euphrates and the Tigris, which have had only moderate success to date, also feed implicitly into the conservation of the ecosys. [...] 2.5 Supporting water cooperation and peacebuilding in the context of displacement, migration and reconstruction Water plays a fundamental role in the context of flight and migration across the Middle East: as a potential trigger of these movements, as a prerequisite for securing livelihoods and development including in host communities, and as an entry point for fostering social cohesion.73 The ar.
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- Germany
