Today, Saturday, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, in cooperation with the German Agency for International Cooperation, held a training workshop on annual planning for water awareness.

The workshop, in which the Ministry of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places, the General Ifta’ Department, the Council of Churches, the Association of Scouts and Guides and university professors participated, came as part of efforts to spread a culture of water awareness in the project “Improving the efficiency of community water use” and the “Cleanliness and Sanitation” program.

The media spokesman for the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Omar Salama, said that the ministry deals with the problem of water scarcity effectively through several scenarios and programs to find the necessary solutions, especially with regard to depleting groundwater and providing citizens with water needs.

He pointed out that this requires everyone to unite to confront it by unifying the water awareness discourse and spreading the culture of water conservation as part of national education.

Salameh indicated that the periodic awareness campaigns implemented by the Ministry achieve positive results, especially with regard to the campaign to tighten control over water sources, where the Ministry’s cadres, in cooperation with many institutions and citizens, control many attacks on water sources in all regions.

Salameh stressed that these attacks are a flagrant infringement of the rights of citizens and deprive many areas of regular access to water, stressing that the ministry will continue its efforts to preserve citizens’ water rights, especially that these attacks constitute one of the most important challenges facing the water sector.

He called on the participants in the workshop to develop plans, programs and implement awareness campaigns in non-traditional ways that address the national and humanitarian conscience of all segments of society and be directed to youth, the women’s sector, mothers, children and school students, and stress the importance of water conservation and methods of rationalizing domestic water consumption in all areas.

He pointed out that the ministry has implemented campaigns to educate citizens about the importance of water conservation, including the “The Point Is Differentiated” campaign, and the “Do not underestimate the Point” campaign launched during the last period, which called on citizens not to underestimate the point of water and its value and preservation, in addition to holding several workshops. Plumbing for local community women in various governorates in cooperation with the German Agency for International Cooperation and other campaigns that promote water conservation and protection.

Representatives of the German Agency presented the initiatives implemented by the project team “Improving the efficiency of water use and its achievements during the current year”, where a short film was shown about what had been accomplished with the participating parties since the beginning of the project, which focused on the importance of educating the local community about the good use of water to face its scarcity through Launching several initiatives, including holding plumbing workshops for the women’s sector in all governorates in cooperation with the Ministry, and the Public Ifta Department’s announcement of 8 fatwas prohibiting water theft and the preparation of distance learning courses for school and university students, which are now being taught.

They stressed the importance of holding water awareness initiatives for people with disabilities, children, and church workers, as well as contributing to improving water use efficiency in mosques and treating greywater.

The workshop included training and practical programs by dividing the participants into training groups that submitted proposals for developed programs to be implemented next year, which focus on practical guidelines to conserve water and follow methods of rationalizing water consumption in all sectors.