Report

Committee on Middle East Questions’ Second Round Table on Water

1.   Introduction

Article 21 (f) of the Statutes and Rules of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) gives the Governing Council the authority to set up ad-hoc or special committees.[1] These committees and working groups play an important role in the functioning and activities of the IPU.

2.   Background on the Committee on Middle East Questions

The Committee on Middle East questions was formed in 1987 by the IPU Governing Council to follow the peace process in the region.

The Committee is comprised of 14 members with experience or keen interest relating to the Middle East, and each member of the committee is elected by the Governing Council of the IPU for a period of 4 years.

Members of the Committee encourage contact between parliamentarians from all sides of the Israeli and Palestinian parliaments, neighbouring countries and members of the Quartet of peace mediators (United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia). [2]

As part of the Committee’s work, members travel to the region to promote discussion and get firsthand experience to assess the current political situation and ecnomic impact. A goal of the Committee is to always strengthen ties between parliamentarians of the region.

Through its work, the Committee prepares and submits reports to the Governing Council. At each Assembly of the IPU, held twice a year, the Committee convenes in private. On occasion, it can hold extra sessions if the President of the Committee or three members choose to do so.

3.   The Second Round Table on Water

The Second Round Table on Water was held after the success of the First which was held in May of 2016.

The roundtable’s aim is to find solutions to ease the water crisis as part of the greater goal of peace in the region. This was one of a series of proceedings which brought together parliamentarianss from the Middle East with water management experts in a bid to help meet the challenge set out in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 6, which calls for feasible management of water and sanitation.[3]

Five Committee members along with delegations of parliamentarians from Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates participated in the Second Round Table on Water on July 6 and 7, 2017.

The Canadian parliamentarian in attendance was Senator Salma Ataullahjan, from the Senate of Canada, who was elected to the Committee for a 4 year term at the 136^th Assembly of the IPU.

The Committee and roundtable particpants heard from leading experts from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the development organization WaterLex and Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME), who helped the participants to identify solutions to a safe, readily available and affordable source of water for the region.

As part of the roundtable, Committee members and participants identified solutions that will be presented to the Governing Council at the 137^th Assembly of the IPU being held in St. Petersburg, Russia this November.

Respectfully submitted,