The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region is the most water stressed region in the world. According to 2018 data, 14 of the 17 most water stressed countries globally were in the region, including the top six (FAO, 2022).
However, the overall level of water stress of a country does not paint a full picture on the risk and impact to the country and its people, including children. Moreover, the level of water stress does provide information about a country readiness to manage water stress impact. Assessing the “readiness” of a country’s enabling environment to tackle water scarcity and related compounding climate change risks is the main aim of this report.
An in-depth analysis of the enabling environment within the water and climate sectors was undertaken in 14 MENA countries. The assessment was structured using the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) enabling environment building blocks (SWA, n.d.): “Policy and Strategy”, “Institutional Arrangements”, “Financing”, “Capacity Development”, and “Planning, Monitoring and Review”. Under each building block, assessment criteria were defined and subsequently measured through the use of a combination of the findings from country desk reviews and country surveys distributed to UNICEF country offices.