EcoPeace at the United Nations Security Council
On April 29th EcoPeace Middle East Palestinian and Israeli Co-Directors, Nada Majdalani and Gidon Bromberg, accompanied by Jordanian Co-Director, Yana Abu Taleb, had the incredible opportunity of presenting at the 8517th UN Security Council session on the Middle East.
Together, they delivered a message of environmental peacebuilding, calling to shift environmental resource management from conflict to cooperation across borders and highlighting the potential impact this could have on regional security. Click here to watch the presentations (note they start @ 20 minutes) and here to see press conference.
EcoPeace’s presentation was extremely well received. Notably both the Palestinian and Israeli Ambassadors to the UN thanked EcoPeace for the statement made. Other important comments made included:
UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary A. DiCarlo
“I’d like to thank EcoPeace for joining us for today’s debate. Their commendable efforts to promote Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian collaboration around shared environmental challenges are exemplary. I welcome the ongoing commitment by member states to generously support and bring attention to such initiatives.”
Security Council President, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen (Germany)
“Taking the lack of progress that we [UNSC} have achieved, we took the initiative to try to break out of the ritual repetition of known positions and we wanted to put a glimmer of hope into this chamber and we invited the EcoPeace representatives to present what they are doing. What they are doing in a political landscape that undermines the prospects of a 2 state solution and where we have developments contributing to the entrenchment of a one state reality. Let me come back briefly to the briefing. I thoroughly enjoyed what you have said and what you demonstrated is that cooperation is possible. And I thank you for your engagement and thank you for what you can do as civil society. That as civil society you can play a very important role building trust and confidence. And trust and confidence, as the mayors jumping into the Jordan River, this trust that you have built is a prerequisite for a solution that is based on negotiations and cooperation. Something we desperately need.”
United States’ representative
“We agree with EcoPeace – that the road to stability in the Middle East will be paved by regional cooperation on many levels – and water and energy security are certainly essential for peace in the region. It’s indeed heartening to hear that Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians are working together… to address the shared challenges in energy and water.
The EcoPeace Water-Energy Nexus project is a great example of this cooperation. It harnesses Jordan’s potential as a large-scale renewable energy provider, and utilizes both Israeli and Palestinian expertise in desalination. The success and sustainability of projects such as this, clearly demonstrates that Israelis and Palestinians can, and do, work together at the community level everyday to improve their lives.”
Belgium’s representative
“I would like to thank all the participants of today’s briefing and in particular the representatives of EcoPeace Middle East. Belgium supports dialogue with civil society and the invaluable contribution of women and youth in that context and we emphasize the degree to which their work contributes to creating an environment that’s favorable to peace and respect for human rights. The dynamism and plurality of civil society, which are part of an open and democratic society, are key and it is essential for civil society to be able to work unfettered. We have some concerns regarding hostile acts and policies against them.”
France’s representative
“Their statement provides us with a valuable perspective on a dimension of the conflict that is insufficiently addressed by this Council. Their joint presentation, just like the work they carry out on the ground, is also exemplary, in terms of its methodology and gives us all a message of hope, which is particularly welcome.”
The Dominican Republic’s representative
“We join others in thanking… Nada Majdalani and Gidon Bromberg for briefing us on the environmental dimension of the peace process and the precarious situation being experienced in Gaza and the West Bank. Faced with challenges such as the serious shortage of water, we are convinced that the cross border nature of water necessitates its inclusion in any attempt at peacebuilding. And so we take this opportunity to congratulate them on the admirable work that they’re carrying out to help countries to collaborate on an issue that is as critical as the cooperation on shared water shortages.”
For media coverage on the event see: Jpost and J61
EcoPeace at the World Economic Forum
Jordanian Co-Director, Yana Abu Taleb, represented EcoPeace at the World Economic Forum on April 5th and 6th. Yana participated in two sessions: The first session, “From Risk to Resilience: Navigating the Water-Energy-Food Nexus”, brought together a network of experts across science, policy and business to have a regional dialogue on the escalating water-food-energy nexus challenges and to begin co-designing a roadmap for strengthened regional resilience. The second session, “Environmental Leadership”, featured leaders across the business sector, government, and civil society, for an action-oriented workshop on what’s needed for the next generation of environmental leadership.
EcoPeace in the UK
EcoPeace Jordanian Co-Director, Yana Abu Taleb, Palestinian Co-Director, Nada Majdalani and Deputy Israeli Director, Dalit Wolf, attended the Skoll World Forum in Oxford. EcoPeace won the Skoll Award in 2009 and has since been part of this yearly meeting of social entrepreneurs and changemakers from all over the world. This year, EcoPeace presented its digital transformation strategy and plans to partner with Dharma Platform to start mobile data collection. After Oxford, Yana, Nada and Dalit travelled to London, where they presented EcoPeace in a series of events, including an extraordinary interreligious service organized by Harlesdon Methodist Church together with Wembley Central Masjid (see picture gallery) and Rabbi Frank Dabba Smith.
1st Mesopotamian Water Forum
From April 6th to 8th Abdelrahman Sultan, EcoPeace Jordan’s Projects Manager, attended the First Mesopotamian Water Forum in Sulaimani (Sulaymaniyah) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The forum’s goal was to give a voice to those who are marginalized and excluded from the discussion about water management in the Mesopotamian region that includes Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria.
Abdelrahman said the current water management situation is causing extreme drought, ecological deterioration and habitat degradation in the south of Iraq. Moreover, he said that despite the difficulties facing that region there are many opportunities to collaborate on a basin level similar to what EcoPeace has been doing in the Jordan River basin. (Link: https://www.savethetigris.org/#home)
Regional East Mediterranean Gas Meeting in Cyprus
On April 3rd and 4th, EcoPeace’s President, Munqeth Mehyar, attended a regional meeting organized by Fredrich Ebert Stiftung, to discuss the recent developments in the exploration of current and future use of gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The meeting covered the new Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMFG), the new gas deals among Egypt, Jordan and Israel, and the development and completion of several pipelines in the region. Additionally, the meeting discussed the environmental implications of gas exploration such as drilling waste, air quality and marine biodiversity.
Hands of Peace Alumni Graduate from EcoPeace’s Water Diplomacy and Environmental Peacebuilding Course
On April 5th Palestinian and Israeli Hands of Peace Alumni celebrated the conclusion of the Trans boundary Waters in the Middle East course and projects on which they have been working since 2018. The participants presented their different projects and received certificates for the successful completion of the training.
Model UN Conference
EcoPeace was proud to co-sponsor and partner this year’s Model UN Conference on Tuesday 30th April at Sharet High School in Netanya. 23 schools from all sectors and 300 delegates explored the theme Water Cannot Wait. EcoPeace Israel Co-Director, Gidon Bromberg, delivered the keynote address via video. You can watch it here.
The Model UN is supported by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
EcoPeace Leads 4th Neighbours Path Tour
On April 27th, 45 Students and teachers from 5 schools, as part of the Young Scientist Forum, participated in EcoPeace’s 4th Neighbors Path Tour. The tour started in Ramallah and included a visit to the wastewater treatment system, baptism site (to learn about the history of the Jordan River, water division agreements made by Israel and Jordan, and EcoPeace’s Master Plan for the Jordan River valley) and Al-Auja area, ten kilometers north of Jericho, where agricultural land makes up over 10% of the town’s area. Irrigation water is mainly supplied from the al-Auja spring, so the group looked at why the residents of the Al-Auja area have recently abandoned agriculture due to lack of water. The participants will now work in groups to find solutions to some of these issues.
The above activities are part of the Good Water Neighbors (GWN) project, which is supported by the Swedish International Development Agency.