09:00 – 09:30
Registration and Welcome Coffee
09:30 – 10:00
Welcome Note
- Dr Tarek Mitri, Director of the Fares Institute on Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut
- Sally Abi Khalil, Country Director at Oxfam Lebanon
10:00 – 10:30
Opening Speeches
- Rein Nieland, Head of the Operations Section at the European Union Delegation to Lebanon
- Ministry of Energy and Water
11:00 – 11:30
COFFEE BREAK
11:30 – 13:00
PANEL 1:
Operational aspects at the Regional Water Establishments
This panel will host the Directors of the four RWEs in Lebanon to discuss, in a Q&A format, operational challenges and opportunities. The Q&A will be structured to unpack issues related to their financial and administrative capacity, the impact of various investments in infrastructure and systems, accountability and measures to improve public trust.
- Moderated by Dr. Nadim Farajalla, Director, Climate Change and the Environment Program, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut
Panellists:
- Khaled Obeid, Director, North Lebanon Water Establishment
- Jean Gebran, Director, Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Establishment
- Wassim Daher, Director, South Lebanon Water Establishment
- Rizk Rizk, Director, Bekaa Water Establishment
13:00 – 14:00
LUNCH BREAK
14:00 – 15:30
PANEL 2:
Strategic frameworks governing Lebanon’s water sector
This panel will start with an opening presentation aimed at analysing the strategies and policies that govern the water sector in Lebanon, followed by a panel discussion formed of representatives from the MoEW and sector experts, in a Q&A format. The content of the Q&A will target the level of alignment between the NWSS and priorities of the RWE and water users, cost recovery, tariffing and efficiency considerations, meeting international obligations and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), actualisation of water governance and water security leading up to prioritisation of investment allocation.
- Moderated by Dr. Ralf Klingbeil, Senior Expert – Water, Environment, Sustainable Development, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Germany
Panellists:
- Ziad Khayat, Economic Affairs Officer, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA)
- Michele Pierpaoli, Attaché – Water & Wastewater Affairs – Economy and Local Development Section, Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon
- Suzy Hoayek, Lebanon Crisis Response Plan Coordinator, Ministry of Energy and Water
- Ramy Saliba, Project Officer, Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
15:30 – 17:00
PANEL 3:
Investment Planning in Lebanon’s water sector
This panel will start with an opening presentation focused on the recent investment plans in Lebanon’s water sector followed by a panel discussion in a Q&A format. The content of the Q&A will be structured to discuss recent investment planning, namely the CEDRE conference, and alignment with national planning as well as how effectively proposed plans respond to the needs of local populations. Discussion may also touch on various direct/indirect impacts on local communities.
- Moderated by Sami Atallah, Executive Director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (
LCPS)
Panellists:
- Wafa Charafeddine,Head of Funding Division at the Council for Development and Reconstuction (CDR)
- Amal Talbi, Senior Water Resources Management at the World Bank
- Rami Wehbeh, Lebanon Water Project (LWP) Program Manager, USAID/Lebanon
- Dr. Hanan Fawaz, Senior Advisor Water, Wastewater, Solid Waste, KfW Development Bank
- Ministry of Energy and Water (Representative TBC)
17:00 – 17:30
Closing Speech