Ranked as the fourth most water scarce country in the world on a per capita basis, Jordan’s natural water scarcity, exacerbated by high population growth, rapid urbanization and heavy industry investment is likely to create social, economic and environmental pressures that will overshadow Jordan’s development process in the years to come.

In Jordan, UNESCO is actively working in water resource management through undertaking research, awareness raising and capacity building activities. Some of these include:

• Development of training and capacity building programmes in integrated water resources management for the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and NGOs.
• Improvement of the national database on integrated water resources management in arid and semi-arid areas.
• Establishment of an international research centre for environmental and water resources for advocacy education and capacity building at Al Balqa Applied University.
• Development of a water education and awareness programme for school children through a cartoon competition called H2Oooh!
• Analysis of the current water situation in Jordan including the impact of climate change and migrant populations on water usage patterns.
• Development of a comprehensive information tool-kit on water education and delivery of trainings to teachers and other community groups using the tool-kit.