Spring 2013
Issue #1
MENA NWC Update
Middle East and North Africa Network of Water Centers of Excellence
MENA NWC Founders Committee Launched
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
MENA NWC Founders
Committee Launched
PR&D Selection Committee
Recommends First Award
1
1
Research Project Design and
Writing Workshop Held
2
MENA NWC Business
Planning Begins
2
Building Partnerships at 2013
World Water Week
2
Exploring Business
Partnerships in Jordan
New Staff Join FABRI to
Support the Network
3
3
Changes to the PR&D Annual
Program Statement (APS)
3
Collaborative Proposal Design
Meetings
4
The MENA NWC is
pleased to announce the
members of the Founding
Committee:
Manar Fayyad
Professor, Department of
Chemistry, The University
of Jordan
Hady Amr
Deputy Assistant
Administrator, Bureau for
the Middle East, U.S.
Agency for International
Development
Harvey Perlman
Chancellor, The
University of NebraskaLincoln
Samir Bensaid
Director General,
International Institute for
Water and Sanitation,
National Office for
Electricity and Potable
Water (ONEE-IEA)
Thameur Chaibi
Head of Department of
Rural Engineering,
National Institute for
Research in Rural
Engineering, Water, and
Forestry (INRGREF)
Muwaffaq Saqqar
Water and Environment
Consultant Engineer,
Arab Fund for Social and
Economic Development
Jill Shaunfield
Science and Technology
Advisor, Bureau of Near
East Affairs, U.S.
Department of State
Representing senior
government officials,
academia, research
institution and regional
association leaders, the
Founders Committee is
critical to the
establishment and success
of MENA NWC. In the
coming years it will design
the Network’s governance
and financial structures,
oversee the annual budget
and technical program,
guide the legal registration
of the Network, nominate
the Board of Directors and
ensure a smooth transition
to the operational phase.
The Nominating
Committee considered
more than 40 candidates
from the Middle East, U.S.
and North Africa for
positions on the Founders
Committee. The Founders
Committee will hold its first
meeting in Washington, DC
in March 2013 to discuss
the Network’s five-year
business plan and determine
a pathway to financial
sustainability.
MENA NWC Policy, Research &
Development Grants Selection Committee
Recommends First Award
Most peri-urban and rural
communities in the Middle
East and North Africa lack
access to sanitation
services which causes
public health issues and
contaminates water
resources. Subject to
clarifications, the Policy,
Research & Development
(PR&D) Selection
Committee recommended
an award to a research
team who will work to
address this challenge. Led
by Eng. Mustapha Mahi of
the Institute for Water and
Sanitation (ONEE-IEA) in
Morocco, a collaborative
research team from the
Royal Scientific Society
(RSS) in Jordan, Institute of
Agronomy and Veterinary
Science Hassan II (IAV) in
Morocco and The
University of Jordan plan to
pilot and promote two lowcost sustainable sanitation
technologies in rural
communities in Jordan and
Morocco. Underscoring
the importance of linking
research to end users, the
research team has joined
with the Morocco
Association for Research
and Development (R&D
Maroc), an association of
private sector research and
development (R&D) firms,
to complete the work.