The cooperation agreement was signed during the first edition of the Moroccan-Swiss Scientific Days, organised on 16 and 17 October 2023 in the Moroccan capital Rabat, under the theme “the challenges of water in Morocco”. Under the agreement, the Cherifian Kingdom will benefit from Switzerland’s “proven” expertise in water resource management.
This expertise will be provided in three areas: training, scientific research and innovation. “Today, we are called upon to develop scientific research in the field of water, applied research and innovation, and to share experience and good practice in order to create synergies between political decision-makers and scientific researchers and to develop opportunities for cooperation”, says Nizar Baraka, the Moroccan Minister for Infrastructure and Water.
Bringing skills together
For several years now, Morocco has been developing strategies to deal with water stress. Firstly, the dam policy launched in the 1960s has led to the construction of 152 dams with a total storage capacity of 20 billion m3. At least 20 other dams are under construction to reach 26 billion m3 by 2030. Then there’s seawater desalination and the reuse of treated wastewater.
These projects have clearly not prevented a drastic fall in the volume of water per capita. From 2,600 m3 in 1960, this volume has plummeted to 603 m3 in 2023 and should fall below 500 m3 by 2030 according to the United Nations (UN).
To boost their effectiveness, Moroccan experts and researchers will be working with those from leading Swiss universities under the new cooperation agreement signed by the Minister for Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, Abdellatif Miraoui, and the Swiss Federal Councillor and Head of the Department of the Economy, Training and Research, Guy Parmelin. As well as exchanging experience in scientific research and innovation, the Moroccan experts will be given the tools they need to develop drinking water supply and sanitation projects in Morocco.
Inès Magoum