On the occasion of World Water Day, the Ministry of Irrigation signed cooperation protocols with the Ministry of Endowments and that of education. The signing took place during a celebration held by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in cooperation with a European Union delegation in Egypt to mark World Water Day on 22 March. This year’s celebration was held under the theme “Glacier Preservation”.
Egypt faces significant threats from rising sea levels and altered water availability caused by the melting of glaciers, impacting its coastal regions and agricultural productivity.
“We have a robust EU-Egypt partnership in water management, particularly through initiatives such as the Team Europe Initiative for Integrated Water and Food Security,” Angelina Eichhorst, head of the EU delegation, said during the event, adding that Egypt and the EU are working hard together on promoting innovative solutions that safeguard water resources for future generations.
The protocol with the Ministry of Endowments aims to raise awareness of the importance of water conservation and rationalisation, Osama Raslan, the spokesperson for the ministry, told Al-Ahram Weekly.
The protocol also promotes cooperation in preparing and issuing awareness materials, providing relevant scientific data for presentation in religious awareness discourse, and involving the imams and preachers of the ministry in awareness activities for different age groups, Raslan said.
Humanity has entered an era of water scarcity, Minister of Endowments Osama Al-Azhari said, addressing participants at the event.
Glaciers lost more than 600 gigatons of water in 2023, the largest loss in 50 years, Al-Azhari pointed out. Seventy per cent of fresh water on Earth is in the form of snow or ice.
He said humans have a duty to cooperate to halt global warming, properly managing water resources and not monopolising them. He also encouraged scientific research efforts to reduce global temperatures and rationalise human activities with a high carbon footprint, exploring new, affordable technologies for desalination, cloud seeding, and other rain-making technologies, all while making better use of groundwater resources.
The Ministry of Endowments already has a programme in place called “We protect and preserve our Nile”. It provides scientific material for imams to use in educating citizens, holding training courses for imams in major mosques, and incorporating water and climate issues into the Friday sermons and programmes and activities held by the Ministry of Endowments, Raslan said.
The protocol with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education aims to integrate the concepts of water awareness and natural resource conservation into school curricula, thus enhancing the awareness of future generations of the importance of water as a fundamental element of life and sustainable development, Minister of Education Mohamed Abdel-Latif said. Abdel-Latif said the ministry had already begun integrating climate awareness, water conservation, and sustainability principles into science, geography and civics curricula to ensure that the next generation understands the importance and urgent impact of water issues.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 March, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: