UfM on World Water Day: addressing water scarcity in the Mediterranean

There is great potential to reuse wastewater in the Mediterranean region as currently only around 1% of it is recycled.

The Mediterranean region is one of the areas in the world most vulnerable to climate change as well as one of the most impacted by human water demand, where more than 180 million people are affected by water poverty and an additional 60 million face water stress to some degree. These figures highlight the scale of the challenge faced by the countries in the region. On World Water Day the UfM Secretariat emphasises the crucial need to continue enhancing regional cooperation to successfully address this issue of growing concern.
By promoting collaborative work in the definition of a potential UfM water agenda, acting as a platform for cooperation and dialogue through the UfM Water Expert Group, as well as advancing the implementation of a number of UfM-labelled projects in the water sector, the Secretariat is meeting its foundational mandate of making water a priority sector.

In line with this year’s focus on wastewater, it is timely to recall that several of these challenges refer directly to water resource depletion and urban wastewater management in a region where the urban population has tripled in half a century. The UfM is helping to address this challenge by driving forward a renewed urban development agenda in which these issues play a central role.