Improving Local Water Governance through Stakeholder Dialogue

The current water management style in the Middle East Region is characterized by centralized and top down management compounded by lack of stakeholders' involvement, uneasy communication and fragmentation of responsibilities among many actors. This potentially has created some conflict of interests among the different actors. In many cases such conflicts of interest have resulted from the different perception on the same issue. In some certain cases these conflicts of interest can be reasonably dealt with through direct negotiation among competing actors. However, in situations of war or occupation the margins of negotiation are often extremely narrow or non-existent. The context is even different such as the case of Palestine. The impact of ignoring Palestinian public participation during the previous era, by the occupying power, has developed a large gap and often a distrustful relation between the public service sector which is governed by the occupying power, and the Palestinian public in general. Moreover, it has left a fragmented and not coordinated public service sector including water sector. Water supply management has been characterized by top down management style with little or no room for public participation and no clear division of roles and responsibilities for the different bodies in charge of water management. Yet, the creation of the Palestinian Authority has improved the situation to a certain extent. However, there is still no adequate legal framework that ensures public participation in managing local resources. In the mean time public has not yet overcome the values inherited from the long term impact of occupation about this issue. Accordingly, public participation requires a major cultural change among public in a way that they act and participate as citizens and that they become aware that it is part of their right to participate in managing their local sources including water. It is also