FPSC has allocated more than 15% of its resources to projects that seek to contribute to the consolidation of the human right to drinking water and sanitation and to ensure the minimum levels of water resources needed to guarantee agricultural production in arid and semi-arid areas.
In the Middle East, and specifically in Palestine, the actions of its projects are aimed at improving infrastructure, construction of cisterns for rainwater collection, rehabilitation of wells, renovation of wastewater drainage systems , as well as awareness programs and advice on environmental conservation and rational use of water.
Palestine has a water supply (per capita supply) of the poorest in the world. Water scarcity is due to both natural and man-made constraints, mainly as a result of Israeli occupation. There are serious problems with the management of aquifers and intra-frontier river basins. More than 60% of the Jordan River water use is consumed by Israel. The settlements are consuming a larger volume than that provided by the sustainable recharge of the aquifers.
The FPSC is currently developing the agreement, funded by AECID, “Sustainable and equitable rural development in the West Bank including the start and use of responsible management of land and water resources for small and medium farmers”, whose main lines of action are:
· The recovery of .wastelands, by conversion into irrigated areas and facilitating both access and adaptation to agricultural work.
· The creation of a responsible production model that uses and manages resources in a sustainable way, promotes the use of clean energy, alternative sources of water resources and modern agricultural practices that are not harmful to the environment.
· The implementation of a strategy to reinforce the role of cooperatives in agricultural production, creating economic, social and development links between the collective of farmers and other relevant groups in the communities, especially women’s.
· To promote the empowerment of women in communities, improving their socioeconomic level and their entrepreneurial and institutional capacities through their incorporation into the productive process with equity.
FPSC in the framework of the agreement also carries out awareness actions on this issue in Spain. The last two events it has participated in are:
The conference “The Palestinian People and Their Access to Human Rights: Water and Sanitation” by Enric Roig, Director of Humanitarian Aid and José Luis Zatarain, Director of Communication, both FPSC staff, addressed to students of the Master of International Cooperation Sustainable Emergency Architecture of the UIC (Barcelona) that took place on 11 May.
The participation of the FPSC in the 20th anniversary ceremony of the Mainel Foundation Storytelling Prize, with the participation of Blanca de Mesa, Director of Institutional Relations, who showed attendees a video on the problem of Water in the West Bank and the activities of the international cooperation agreement framed in the 17 Sustainable Development Objectives (SOD). More than 500 short stories, written by secondary and high school students, from all the territory, took part in the twentieth edition of the Mainel Foundation Storytelling Prize. The 9 winning stories will be published in the book of the prize that will take the title “The world you want”.