MENA NWC Update Fall 2014 | Seite 4

Page 4 MENA NWC Update NonMENA NWC Is Incorporated as Non-Profit TaxOrganization and Applies for Tax-Exemption Following MENA NWC’s legal registration as a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., last year, the Interim Management Unit, Board of Directors, and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) worked collaboratively with legal counsel to prepare and finalize bylaws for the Network. In September 2014, these bylaws were submitted to Do you have an upcoming event, recently published report, or paper you’d like the Network to promote? Please send it to [email protected] the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), along with the Network’s application for tax-exempt status. Such status will allow MENA NWC to solicit and receive tax-exempt donations from U.S. organizations. The decision about a permanent venue for MENA NWC’s Directorate will be made by the Board of Directors once the Network has outside funding commitments to sustain it. Until then, FABRI is preparing a plan to fully operationalize the Network, including opening a bank account, establishing accounting procedures, and recruiting permanent staff. International Research Presentations MENA NWC’s researchers, funded through the Policy, Research & Development grants fund, are presenting research findings at international research conferences. In October 2014, Dr. Ahmed Al-Busaidi of Sultan Qaboos University presented Mitigating Environmental Risks of Wastewater Reuse for Agriculture at the 9th International Soil Science Congress in Turkey. The project was also presented in October at the 10th International Hydrogeological Congress in Greece. Several additional international conference presentations are planned: • Researchers from INRGREF and SQU will present the Mitigating Environmental Risks of Wastewater Reuse for Agriculture research project at the Second Arab-American Frontiers Symposium in Muscat, Oman in December 2014 • Researchers from the Managed Aquifer Recharge Using Treated Wastewater research project will present at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco in December 2014 • The Using Green Nanoparticles as a Biofouling-Resistant Agent in Reverse Osmosis Desalination research team will present at the American Water Works Association – Membrane Technology Conference in Orlando, Florida in March 2015.