IUCN North African Members discuss water challenges and collaboration opportunities in a regional webinar

The meeting is part of an ongoing initiative to organize thematic webinars with IUCN Members in North Africa, aimed at strengthening dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collaboration across the network. This session marked the first webinar of 2026 in this series. 

The event brought together representatives from IUCN Member organizations across North Africa to discuss regional water management priorities, share experience and expertise, and reflect on how IUCN and its Members can work more closely to address environmental and societal pressures affecting water systems in the region. 

The webinar was opened by Dr. Emad Adly, Chair of the IUCN North Africa Regional Committee, and Maher Mahjoub, Director of the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN Med). In their remarks, they highlighted the importance of strengthening dialogue between the Secretariat and Members and underscored that addressing water scarcity, climate pressures, and ecosystem degradation requires coordinated action and the active engagement of IUCN’s network. 

Addressing water challenges in North Africa 

During the first technical session, Diego Pozzoli, Water Management and Governance Officer at IUCN Med, presented an overview of the main water-related challenges affecting North African countries. These include increasing water scarcity, climate change impacts, pressures on freshwater ecosystems, and governance challenges such as fragmented institutional responsibilities and limited data sharing. 

Participants then engaged in an open discussion to reflect on the most pressing challenges in their national contexts. Members highlighted several emerging issues, such as the growing impact of tourism on water demand in some Mediterranean destinations and the need to address increasing water consumption linked to changing lifestyles and economic development. 

Representatives also shared recent experiences from the region. Participants from Morocco, for example, noted the increasing variability of extreme weather events, pointing to recent floods in northern areas following several years of drought. They also emphasised the importance of improving water storage and management infrastructure. Other contributions stressed the need to strengthen local water governance and build the capacity of water user associations, particularly to enhance monitoring systems, early warning mechanisms, and community participation in water management. 

Strengthening collaboration with IUCN Members 

In the second session, Pozzoli presented the IUCN global programme 2026-2029 and how IUCN Med’s current strategy and project portfolio related to water in North Africa aligns with it. 

The discussion that followed focused on practical ways to strengthen synergies between IUCN’s projects and the work carried out by Member organizations. Participants emphasized the importance of better mapping the expertise of civil society organizations and NGOs in the region to facilitate their integration into projects and initiatives. 

Members also highlighted the important role that local organizations can play in implementing field activities, supporting capacity building, and contributing knowledge from ongoing initiatives. They stressed the value of stronger coordination among Members themselves, including opportunities for cross-learning and collaboration across countries, including north-south initiatives. 

Participants also shared their expectations for the future IUCN Programme 2026-2029, calling for greater involvement of Members in programme development, project implementation and regional initiatives addressing water governance, ecosystem restoration and community resilience. 

Building a stronger regional network 

The webinar concluded with closing remarks from Dr. Emad Adly and Maher Mahjoub, who thanked participants for their active engagement and valuable contributions. They reaffirmed IUCN’s commitment to working closely with its Members to develop collaborative solutions that respond to the region’s environmental challenges. 

Participants also highlighted the importance of maintaining regular exchanges between the Secretariat and Members, as well as strengthening cooperation among organizations across North Africa. Such dialogue will help ensure that the expertise, initiatives and local knowledge of IUCN Members contribute effectively to advancing sustainable water management in the region. 

Links: 

Access to the presentations: ENGAGE PLATFORM

Webinar: Water security challenges in North Africa