The Libyan consultation workshop on the assessment of the water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus in the North-West Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS) was held from 1 to 2 April 2019 in Hammamet, Tunisia.

The event gathered a delegation of Libyan authorities and experts from the water, energy, agriculture and environmental fields, as well as a number of international experts. This was a key step in the participatory assessment of intersectoral (“nexus”) trade-offs and synergies in managing the NWSAS. It is carried out by the Water Convention Secretariat serviced by UNECE, the Global Water Partnership Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), in close cooperation with concerned authorities from the aquifer-sharing countries as well as with the NWSAS Consultation Mechanism.

This project aims at enhancing transboundary cooperation in the NWSAS and strengthening the capacities needed to address intersectoral issues (see the event page of the regional kick-off workshop here).

The focus of the Libyan consultation workshop was on how to improve inter-sectoral cooperation and enhance synergic, coherent policy making for a better management of shared natural resources, at national and transboundary level. In particular, participants of the workshop discussed the preliminary results of a multi-sectoral analysis of the NWSAS, and proposed actions, which aim at three broad objectives which should be achieved concurrently:

• The modernization of agriculture and the increase of its efficiency and viability, including by promoting local products and strengthening youth and women groups;
• The preservation of groundwater resources and the rationalization of water use, including with the use of unconventional waters; and
• The sustainable development of the energy sector, including by promoting renewable energies for water management and desalination. 

The workshop was organized by GWP-Med, UNECE, OSS under the auspices of the Libyan Water Resources Authority and with the participation of the Consultation Mechanism of NWSAS.

A press release on the workshop can be found here.