Dear ACWUA Members,

I am pleased to extend my sincere thanks to all members of the Arab Countries

Water Utilities Association ACWUA for their continuous support which has

enabled us to develop a sound planning objectives and aspirations of ACWUA.

Today, we are pleased to announce the first issue of first ACWUA newsletter,

this Issue will include different news from ACWUA achievements and its future

programs. It will also highlight the latest developments in the water sector

activities in the Arab region as well as worldwide. ACWUA Newsletter will be

an electronic newsletter, which will be released quarterly. ACWUA Secretariat

welcomes any contribution or suggestion that would develop this work for

members interest.

Thank you for your cooperation, together for further future achievements.

Khaldon Khashman

ACWUA Secretary General

Message from the Secretary General

ACWUA in Brief

The Arab Countries Water Utilities

Association (ACWUA) is a regional

center of excellence that partners with

water supply and wastewater utilities in

Arab Countries. Since its official

launching in 2009 in Amman, ACWUA

is working on expanding its members

Network to reach more than 100 water

utilities, private sector companies and

academic institutions, besides ACWUA

has managed to sign several agreements

and memorandums of understanding with

various international organizations,

which led to extensive benefits to the

association, and a great support in

achieving its goals and objectives.

ACWUA is building a solid, professional

platform for water professionals from all

over the world. It is the centre point

where regional and international experts

would meet to exchange their knowledge

and expertise, get introduced to latest

water technologies and seek the utmost

benefit for all. ACWUA is organizing

many exceptional events and activities over the year in

partnership with International water associations and

agencies, such as training programs with professional

certifications, best practice conferences, seminars and

workshops; to raise our members’ efficiency and

performance level.

Exchange

Platform for

Water and

Waste Water

Utilities in the

Arab World

Inside this issue:

ACWUA in

Brief

1

ACWUA History

& Achievements

2

ACWUA News 2

Upcoming Events 3

ACWUA

Membership

4

1st Arab Water

Week 2010

5

News from our

Members 6

ACWUA Partners

& Supporters

7

March 2011

Volume 1, Issue 1 Water Arabia

As for ACWUA’s achievements in the field of international cooperation,

ACWUA has managed to sign several agreements and memorandums of

understanding with various international organizations, which led to

extensive benefits to the association, and support it in achieving its goals

and objectives. Mentioned are a few of them here.

ACWUA History and Achievements

Page 2

WATER ARABIA

ACWUA was launched from Amman, and has been enjoying

since the gracious hospitality of the Hashemite Kingdom of

Jordan, and ACWUA has since started working on developing the

policies, strategies, business plan and five year action plan for the

Association, along with the communication plan and strategic

objectives for the years 2010 – 2014, along with preset targets for

those objectives.

ACWUA secretary General Eng. Khaldon Khashman conducted two successful

visits, the first to Palestine and the second to Yemen. During ACWUA’s visit to

Palestine, Eng.Khaldon Khashman, met the Minister Dr. Shaddad Attili, Head

of the Palestinian Water Authority; and Mr. Nadim Mulhem, Head of GTZ’s

Water and Sanitation Programme in to discuss strengthening cooperation,

increasing the membership and participation of Palestine within ACWUA and

increasing the Palestinian participation at the Arab Water Week. Dr. Attili as

well as Dr. Khaled Qawasmi, minister of the local government; have shown

their support and interest in ACWUA. During Yemen's visit, ACWUA

provided its experiences on establishing a unified association for all Water

utilities to establish such an Association in Yemen.

ACWUA NEWS

ACWUA 2nd Regional Training Course: “Effective Leading and Managing Communication in

Water Utilities in the Arab Region”

The Second Regional Training Course on ―Effective Leading and Managing

Communication in Water Utilities in the Arab Region‖ was held in Amman,

Jordan from November 21 to 25, 2010. It was organized by the Arab

Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) and InWEnt Capacity

Building International, Germany and supported by Miyahuna Water

Company. There were 41 participants from 10 countries, i.e. from Morocco,

Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine and

Oman (participating for the first time in ACWUA regional training events).

The Training Program was officially launched by Eng. Khaldoun

Khashman, ACWUA Secretary General and Dr. Thomas Petermann, senior

project manager of InWEnt Germany. The training course was the second

ACWUA regional training, among a series of courses on important topics of

water utilities in the Arab region supported by InWEnt. Read more.

The Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) and Engicon O&M in cooperation with

the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Solid Waste (DWA) are pleased to announce the

launching of the Water Utilities Management Capacity Building Program (WUM-CBP).

WUM-CBP offers a series of training modules in the following areas:

1. Non-Revenue Water Management 2. Operation & Maintenance of Water & Wastewater Facilities

3. GIS application for Water Utilities 4. Planning & Design for Water and Wastewater Systems .

*WUM-CBP is certified by DWA, ACWUA and Engicon O&M. The training schedule and further information .

For any more information please contact:

Eng. Mustafa Nasereddin, ACWUA: Mustafa_Nasereddin@acwua.org

Eng. Firas Matar, Engicon O&M: fmatar@engicon.com

Launching the Water Utilities Management Capacity Building Program (WUM-

CBP)

Upcoming Events

3rd ACWUA – GIZ Regional Training Course “Enhancing Business Performance of

Water Utilities through Quality Management and Standards (QMS) “May 2011

Page 3

Volume 1, Issue 1

What have been said

about the 2nd Regional

Training Course

“To tell you the truth

about the training, it was

great, one of the best I

ever attended”

“thanks and gratitude for

this fruitful course due to

the good organization

and the active

participation of all of us

“ WaterWorld Middle East 2011, 24-26 October 2011 in Doha, Qatar Doha Exhibition Center. The

Call for Papers is now open; the deadline is 18 March 2011.

Efficient 2011-Jordan

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation in Jordan, the International Water Association, and USAID are

organizing the sixth IWA Efficient Conference—Water Demand Management Challenges &

Opportunities.

1st Bi‐Annual Global WOPs Congress and GWOPA General Assembly. Cape Town, South Africa,

March 20th‐21st, 2011, Second Announcement.

2011 World Water Week, August 21-27 in Stockholm"Responding to Global Changes: Water in an

Urbanising World" First Announcement and Call for Abstracts, seminars and Side Event Proposals.

About the World Water Week Read more

WASSER BERLIN INTERNATIONAL – Trade Fair and Congress Water and wastewater 2-5 May

2011

Regional Water Safety Plan Conference: Middle East and North Africa Region, Quality Assurance

and Sustainable Drinking Water Services. Crowne Plaza Hotel, Muscat, Oman, May 9-11 2011

Water utilities in the MENA region are striving hard to improve their efficiency, the quality of their

services and the level of their overall performance. Despite some important differences in the legal

status of water service providers and the institutional set-up of the water sector, the challenges

throughout the region remain similar. The development of strong, independent regulators who take

care of the quality of the water services provided to customers would assist the sector. Therefore,

capacity building in water utilities should address elements of standards concerning service activities

and quality management issues relevant at individual, organisational and institutional levels. The

skills to apply standards are important to enable utilities to strengthen their management practices to

improve internal processes, customer services and to effectively cooperate with other actors in the

water sector. More information will be available soon for ACWUA Members.

Request for

Proposals

With the support of the

Swedish International

Development Cooperation

Agency (SIDA), the Arab

Countries Water Utilities

Association (ACWUA) is

soliciting technical and

financial proposals from

qualified bidders to provide

consulting services for the

support of two of its

working groups. Download

the complete Request for

proposals

Page 4

WATER ARABIA

Join ACWUA

Membership:

To become a member

please fill our online

registration form.

ACWUA Membership

ACWUA is growing steadily; more than 90 water and wastewater utilities from over 15 Arab

countries joined our association. Algeria, Bahrain UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,

Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen. ACWUA as a

professional regional association attracts also international experts, private sector companies,

NGO’s, donors, other associations and search institutions from Europe, US and Africa. Please

click here to view Who are our Members.

Arab Countries Members

Membership Benefits

Be part of local, regional and international platform which offers opportunities to

exchange knowledge and experience with others and to establish multi-stakeholder

partnerships from private sector, governmental institutions, donor agencies, water

professional organizations.

Make your voice heard: Contribute to improving understanding between stakeholders,

while enabling new ideas on water policy to surface.

Stay informed on all water events regionally and internationally and with ACWUA’s

publications, such as its official Newsletter, Journal.

Through the Council and the world water forum, influence Governments to develop sound

water-related policies and to give greater priority to water in the political agenda.

Play an active role in determining strategies for ACWUA and in implementing

programmes and activities. Access to ACWUA Wiki - Members-only forum for

knowledge exchange, Access to ACWUA member only area on website, Access ACWUA

Newsletter – only for members.

Voting rights in the General assembly

Technical Working Groups that results out with case studies – country customized

country case studies.

Best practice conferences, Seminars and forums, Training programs & Capacity Building

(Institutional, managerial, technical and financial), Online training courses

Special discounts for attending ACWUA & Non-ACWUA events

Access to Scientific material, Yearbook, annual reports, Best Practice Manuals &

Operational Guides

Internationally Certified Trainings

ACWUA is pleased

to announce the

launching of its new

website which will

go “live” in April.

The address of the

new website will be

the same

(www.acwua.org),

but there will be

some important

improvements.

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The Arab Countries Water Utilities Association ―ACWUA‖ hosted the 1st Arab Water Week entitled: ―Cost Recovery at Water and

Wastewater Utilities: Achievement, Challenges and Solutions) in cooperation with the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation in

Le Meridien Hotel in Amman from 5-9 December 2010. The Arab Ministerial Council for Water had approved in its session held

on the 2nd of July, 2010 - holding the Arab Water Week under the umbrella of the Arab League. ACWUA had since been working

to make this event the first of its kind in the Arab region, and to define it as a bi-annually recurring conference.

About more than 350 Arab and international specialists and experts in the water sector has participated in the conference, in

addition to expert speakers in the conference sessions coming from international organizations such as the International Water

Association (IWA), the German Water Partnership (GWP), the German Development Bank (KfW), the UN-HABITAT, the UN

University, the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA), the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI),

the German Agency for Training and Capacity Building (InWEnt), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The conference was sponsored by several international organizations such as the Swedish International Development Cooperation

Agency (SIDA), the German Agency for Development (GTZ), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),

Berlinwasser International, IFAT – the world’s leading trade fair for water, sewage and waste management, and the German Water

Partnership (GWP).

The conference activities included signing several agreements intended to finance ACWUA’s Technical Working Groups and some

of its other training and capacity building programs aimed at serving ACWUA’s members, as well as to organize for the

participation of international organizations in ACWUA’s future conferences and exhibitions, in addition to sponsoring the

participation of ACWUA in other international conferences and exhibitions. The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)

and the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACUWA) signed an agreement of cooperation to build linkages between the

World Water Week in Stockholm and the Arab Water Week in Amman. ACWUA will therefore assist SIWI in marketing the 2011

World Water Week in Stockholm, 21 – 17, August, 2011. And SIWI will assist ACWUA in marketing the Arab Water Week 2012 .

In parallel to the conference activities, a match making workshop was held to prepare for ACWUA’s utilities twinning program, in

cooperation with UN HABITAT, in addition to another workshop aimed at water sector regulators in the Arab region in

cooperation with GTZ. Another important event that took place was the nomination and election of ACWUA’s second Board of

Directors for the years 2011 – 2012. A 2-day training course was held also in cooperation with InWEnt for more than 50 leaders

and executives working in the water sector in the Arab region addressing the topic of ―Key Performance Indicators and

Benchmarking for Water Utilities in the Arab Region‖. Also in parallel to the conference activities, ACWUA inaugurated the first

exhibition in the region for Arab and international organizations and experts in the water sector.

1st Arab Water Week 2010

Page 5

Volume 1, Issue 1

www.arabwaterweek

.org

Download AWW

Presentations

Aqaba Water extends SCADA system to include Disi wells Aqaba Water (AW) has finished putting the final touches in connecting the major wells supplying Aqaba city to its SCADA

system. The system allows the operators in Aqaba to control the wells at Disi (approx. 70 km). This includes operating the

pumps, changing motor and protection settings, and monitoring all well data including flow, pressure, water level, and pump

temperature, as well as electrical data including voltage, current, power factor, and power usage. The system also allows the

monitoring of collection reservoir water level and its bulk meters.

WATER ARABIA

GIZ successor organisation to GTZ, DED

and InWEnt

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische

Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Deutscher

Entwicklungsdienst gGmbH (DED) and Internationale

Weiterbildung und Entwicklung GmbH (InWEnt) are

pooling their long-standing expertise in the field of

international cooperation for sustainable development.

On 16 December 2010, GTZ, InWEnt and DED signed a

merger agreement. With the merger DED and InWEnt

will be integrated into the legal structure of GTZ. From

the beginning of January 2011 the company will operate

under the name Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale

Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. For more information

GIZ.

The Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and

Industry (Ghorfa) is holding the 14th German-Arab

Business Forum which will take place in Berlin – May

11th-13th, 2011 with special session "Water and

Environmental Technologies: A Look into the Future".

Hebron, the first Palestinian city to implement

the technology for remote control of water

systems

With the participation of Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad,

Hebron Municipality celebrated the opening of the project

control to the water network of Hebron. Where this

developments and a modern form, to be followed by the rest of

the other Palestinian governorates, and a real example of the

practical steps towards state institutions and provide better

service for citizens to live in dignity and freedom .

News from Our Members

The new system also helps to optimize the system by easily testing and choosing the most efficient operation set up, extending

pump life, and reducing power costs

The new system is the latest step by

towards total intelligent automation of

its water network, which is added to

the fully automated Aqaba water

d is t r ibu t ion network, Aqaba

wastewater treatment plant, as well as

the Wadi Musa and Maan wastewater

treatment plants managed by AW

through a management contract.

The benefits that AW expects include

well protection through constant

monitoring, saving labor costs, and

reducing down time through

automatic control.

Page 6

ACWUA Partners & Supporters

Water Arabia

ACWUA Partner and Supporters

We Are on the Web!

WWW.ACWUA.ORG

ACWUA Secretariat Team

Khaldon H. Khashman

Secretary General

Ahmad A. Al-Azzam

Director of Finance and Administration

Ayda Jbour

Executive Assistant

Mustafa Nasereddin

Director of Programs and Technical Services

Oezguer Sezer

CIM Expert for Knowledge Management

Mohammed T. Obidallah

Director of Communications

Dana Daqqaq

Communications Officer

To join ACWUA or for further information, please

contact:

Arab Countries Water Utilities Association,

Umm Umarah Street 19 A, Al rasheed Area, P.O. Box

962449, Amman 11196, Jordan

Phone: +962 6 5161700

Fax: +962-6-5161-800

E-Mail: acwua_secretariat@acwua.org

ACWUA New Colleague

Mohammed T. Obidallah, ACWUA Communications

Director. Mohammed obtained his B.Sc. degree in Biology in 2002

from the University of Hebron, Palestine. In 2006 he obtained

Master Degree in Environmental Sciences at the University of

Cologne. In July 2008, Mohammed was awarded a scholarship from

the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for double

Master degree in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)

for Arab and German Young Professionals.

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