WaPOR 2 inception workshop in Iraq

On December 14th, a WaPOR phase 2 inception workshop was held in Baghdad, Iraq, welcoming 50 in-person and 39 virtual participants from a wide range of backgrounds and institutions: the ministry of water resources, the ministry of agriculture, the ministry of planning, a water user association in Babel, the general federation of agricultural cooperative associations of Babel, representatives from 7 academic institutions, among others.  The workshop was held in Arabic in a hybrid format with most participants gathered in Baghdad and others, joining virtually. Arabic-English and English-Arabic interpretation was provided. 

The workshop was opened with remarks by His Excellency Mr. Mahdi Rashid Al-Hamdani, the minister of water resources that spoke of the central importance of data in the management of the ever scarcer water resources of Iraq. The workshop featured two discussion sessions where stakeholders were divided into two groups, a water resources assessment and management group and a field level water productivity group, so as to discuss the specific role that WaPOR data can play in the resolution of problems linked to those thematic areas.  

The workshop was a success in terms of attendance but also in regards to the wealth of information that was gathered during the discussions sessions where the needs and priorities in Iraq were the primary lens through which to discuss the ways in which the WaPOR project might be implemented in the country. In fact, the second phase of WaPOR is more demand-driven than the first, and the outputs of the inception workshop are a crucial element in the elaboration of a project implementation plan.