Annexes
Annex
6:
Report
of
the
stakeholder
consultation
meeting
in
Amman
On
5
and
6
June
in
Amman,
The
Hague
Institute’s
water
diplomacy
team
met
with
a
variety
of
water
stakeholders
from
Yemen,
as
well
as
Ms.
Zumreta
Jahic,
First
Secretary
at
the
Dutch
embassy
in
Yemen
(project
funder),
in
an
intensive
and
interactive
workshop.
The
workshop
took
place
in
the
context
of
the
project
The
Political
Economy
of
Water
Conflicts
in
Yemen,
for
which
the
team
is
in
the
process
of
finalizing
the
report
after
several
months
of
desk
research
and
field
work
in
three
areas
(Sana’a
basin,
Wadi
Siham
area,
and
Ta’izz),
in
collaboration
with
both
consultants
based
in
Yemen
and
Dutch
partner
organizations.
The
twelve
stakeholders
from
Yemen
represented
a
diverse
group
in
the
Yemeni
Water
Law,
policy,
supply,
and
demand
landscape.
Among
them
are
farmers
and
other
small
water
users,
tribal
leaders,
the
Vice-‐President
of
the
Supreme
Court
of
Appeals,
representative
from
the
Ministry
of
Water
and
the
Environment,
regional
and
local
development
authority
representatives,
representative
from
the
National
Water
Resource
Authority
(NWRA),
and
academics
experienced
in
researching
water
conflicts
within
Yemen.
Many
have
been
directly
affected
by
water
conflicts
(often
with
several
victims)
and
some
have
been
actively
involved
in
mediating
such
conflicts.
It
became
clear
during
the
meeting
that
various
stakeholders
differ
in
their
perspectives
on
the
causes
of
the
lack
of
access
to
water
and
water
availability
(and
therefore
conflicts)
and
on
possible
solutions.
Issues
debated
include:
•
the
perceived
lack
of
coherence
between
customary
and
formal
law;
•
the
variable
role
of
the
court
and
of
tribal
leaders
in
solving
water-‐related
disputes;
•
the
gap
between
the
objectives
of
various
water-‐related
authorities
and
the
implementation
of
such
objectives;
•
the
overlapping
authority
between
different
governmental
agencies;
•
disagreements
over
the
responsibility
of
maintaining
water-‐related
infrastructure;
corruption
and
the
patronage
system;
and
•
the
impacts
of
international
donor-‐funded
projects.
A
common
recognition
at
the
meeting
was
that
conflicts
over
water
in
Yemen
are
caused
by
larger
problems,
of
which
the
root
causes
need
to
be
addressed.
Despite
still
being
a
country
in
political
turmoil,
it
is
never
premature
to
highlight
the
development
and
strengthening
of
the
rule
of
law
and
institutions.
Water
problems
are
not
confined
to
the
water
sector.
Water
scarcity,
in
combination
of
decreasing
profits
from
cash
crops,
has
led
to
farmers
leaving
the
agricultural
sector
to
join
other
sectors
or
become
unemployed,
to
illegally
enter
Saudi
Arabia
as
migrant
workers,
or
even
to
join
armed
groups.
Water
scarcity
should
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