Dear Elisabeth,

Thanks for an update on MENA. There are quite a number of countries. With different cultures in these countries, probably with different climatic conditions, and varied economic conditions, all these factors are likely to impact the approaches and issues in sanitation, in the MENA region, as a whole.

Regards,

F H Mughal

Dear Mughal,

The list of countries that people group together as MENA is explained here in Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MENA

I copy from there:

MENA has no standardized definition; different organizations define the region as consisting of different territories. The following is a list of commonly included countries and territories.[1][9]
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen

As far as I can see. they are all Arabic speaking apart from these three in North Africa: Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria; and apart from Israel.

Many of them have some or many additional languages, too, e.g. Sudan: Approximately 70 languages are native to Sudan. (according to Wikipedia)

This is also an interesting overview on Wikipedia:
List of countries where Arabic is an official language
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_...an_official_language

Regards,
Elisabeth

Dear Kareem,

That is quite a new initiative on your part and, I right away wish you success.

Kindly introduce the MENA region a bit more - which countries come in this region, and which are Arabic speaking and French speaking countries.

The topic 3 (What are the key resources in Arabic in the field of Sanitation?) may have restricted discussion, as, though I ready Holy Quran daily, I will not be familiar with publications on sanitation in Arabic language. Arabic-speaking forum users have to work hard on this topic.

Like Elisabeth, I also wish you success.

Regards,

F H Mughal

Dear Kareem,

Thanks for starting up this thematic discussion. I wish you lots of success with it! (some people may not be familiar with the acronym: MENA stands for Middle East and North Africa, see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MENA)

Just in case people missed it: Here is the link to the SuSanA website where the new MENA chapter of SuSana is described:
www.susana.org/en/regional-chapters/mena-chapter

And here is the forum announcement about the MENA chapter in January by Lillian (cewas Middle East):
forum.susana.org/10-announcements-regard...-4th-arab-water-week

There is also a mailing list which you can subscribe to if you have an interest in the MENA region:
www.susana.org/mailinglist-mena-chapter

How many SuSanA partners do we have in the MENA region?
Only 39 (out of 300 in total). Who are they? Go to the SuSanA website, click on partners, then filter by region. The result is here:
www.susana.org/en/partner?vbl_2%5B11%5D=11

How many SuSanA members do we have in the MENA region?
Not many. You can check out members by countries here: forum.susana.org/forum/statistics?statsview=2
For example Egypt has only 28. Jordan: 25, Iran: 11, Morocco: 19, Israel: 9
Could the language barrier be one main reason for that? Or the perception that SuSanA is only for people either living in developing countries or people working for "donor-type organisations" for developing countries?

Either way, I think your thematic discussion will help to change this. I have already noticed in our membership database that in the last two weeks we are getting significantly more new members from the MENA region than we normally get per week. So that's a good trend!

Just a small piece of advice for running this thematic discussion: You currently have 6 threads running in parallel which is a lot. I would probably merge some together (easy to do for admins). People tend to reply more in threads that have already had a few replies. Also, people get notified of new posts in threads that they have replied in which helps to keep the discussion going. If you want help with merging threads, just e-mail me or the secretariat.

All the best!

Regards,
Elisabeth

Dear SuSanA Members

we are excited to announce the first thematic discussion of the SuSanA Regional Chapter MENA on the topic of

“Applications of Sanitation Systems and Technologies in MENA”

The MENA region, in its diversity of countries and contexts, presents a great variety of sanitation challenges: increasing water consumption, sanitation lagging behind, water scarcity, weak institutional coordination, rapid population growth, rural areas left out, armed conflicts, refugee crisis…

Despite massive investments made in conventional sewered systems, large portions of the region’s population will remain unconnected for the next decades. Many utilities are struggling to operate and maintain properly the existing wastewater treatment infrastructure, and the responsibility for non-sewered areas, relying on onsite systems, is often not clearly or not at all allocated. For the sanitation coverage to become more inclusive, sustainable and reach the low- and middle-income areas, especially the rural areas, new alternatives must be considered.

By establishing a Regional Chapter MENA, SuSanA opens its knowledge pool and makes content relevant and adapted to the MENA context accessible for the Arabic and French speaking communities, for both professionals and students looking to advance sustainable sanitation in the region.

The SuSanA Regional Chapter MENA team warmly invites contribution to the different functionalities of the chapter, including relevant publications in Arabic, open source training materials, topics for discussion on the SuSanA forum, past and ongoing project descriptions and new regional partnerships.

In this thematic discussion – the first discussion to be held under the umbrella of the SuSanA Regional Chapter MENA - we will share our knowledge for tackling sanitation challenges in MENA, and discussing the best practices and applications of sanitation systems and technologies in the region.

Running for four weeks from Tuesday May 16 to Tuesday June 13 on the SuSanA online discussion forum, the discussion will look at the following areas:

Topic 1: Sanitation Systems Challenges in the MENA region
To join please visit: (goo.gl/V4fDRe)

Topic 2: How would we tackle Sanitation Challenges in MENA?
To join please visit: (goo.gl/yfMcED)

Topic 3: What are the key resources in Arabic in the field of Sanitation?
To join please visit: (goo.gl/278o7S)

Topic 4: What are the best sanitation practices and local solutions in MENA?
To join please visit: (goo.gl/J5G8EA)

During the discussion, regular summaries of forum entries will be posted to keep you updated on our conversation.

Coordination on behalf of the SuSanA Regional Chapter MENA for this thematic discussion is carried out by Kareem Hassan (Benaa Foundation). For any questions, please post on the forum or contact us directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Kindly visit forum.susana.org/thematic-discussion-app...s-in-the-mena-region to join our discussion. Everybody can view the discussion, but in order to make a post you have to be a registered SuSanA member. Register here (for free): www.susana.org/register

Please distribute widely within your own networks and to anyone interested in the topic.

We look forward to your contributions and an enriching discussion on applications of sanitation systems and technologies in MENA!

Best regards,
Kareem