Biography:

Prof. Abdin Salih serves as a full Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Khartoum since 1982, and is currently a Member of its Governing Council. He is currently a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO and the Governing Board of UNESCO?IHE Institute for Water Education based in Delft, the Netherlands. His education included a first class honor degree in Civil Engineering from Khartoum University, and DIC and PhD from Imperial College in London in 1973. He held various academic positions at many universities in Africa, Middle East, Europe and USA; and served as the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Khartoum in 1992. He worked for UNESCO, 1993?2008, as regional hydrologist in Cairo, Deputy Secretary of UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) in Paris, and Director of UNESCO Regional Offices in Cairo and Tehran. UNESCO re-assigned him in September 2011 following retirement, as the Secretary of UNESCO/IHP and the Director of the Water Sciences Division in Paris for one year; and in May 2014 as the interim Director of UNESCO Regional Office in Cairo until February 2015. Prior to that, he was elected in 2008, as the President of the Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO IHP for two years. He published over 90 scientific contributions in refereed journals and specialized conferences. His research interest includes areas related to water resources management in arid zones. He has been a member/fellow of many scientific organizations such as IAHR, IWRA, ICID, and is currently a member of the governing council of the Arab Water Council. He is a Fellow of TWAS, African Academy of Sciences and awarded ISESCO Award for Excellence in Science. He served as a consultant for many regional and international organizations including: UNESCO, WMO, FAO, WB, UN-ESCWA, AOAD, ACSAD, ALECSO, ISESCO. He provided consulting services to many countries in the region and abroad. Most important of these is leading various international teams for finding solution for the rising groundwater beneath the city of Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia. He is one of the founders of many regional and global networks including: The African Division of the IAHR; the Wadi Hydrology and Groundwater Networks in the Arab region; The Man And Biosphere (MAB) network of the Arab region; the IHP global G-WADI network; the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP); UNESCO-IHE, the regional G-WADI networks in Asia, Africa and the Arab regions.

Abstract:

Presentation Title: Prospective of Water Harvesting in G-WADI Actions Abstract: G-WADI network aims to develop the water management in Arid and Semi-Arid zones around the Globe. Most Arab countries lie in these zones and face serious challenges in relation to securing adequate water resources to meet their sustainable development or even their future existence. Non-conventional water resources, in general, and water harvesting, in particular, are certainly areas to be targeted. Though some forms of water harvesting had been successfully used at the region since Ancient times (Aflaj, basins, dams, retarding structures, dew collection), yet the technology has developed considerably in the last few decades in most parts of the world opening great potentials for augmenting the scare water resources of these countries. Developing the knowledge base, capacity, and establishing a regional cooperation platform in water harvesting mean enhancing and integrating the utilization of this precious resource for sustainability and better outcomes in rainfed agriculture, rural development, domestic use and ecosystem sustenance in the Arab countries. For this to be achieved, political will, sound policies, strategies, financed plans of action and cooperation platforms are urgently needed and extremely essential parameters for success. Recently, Training G-WADI Workshop and the Global G-WADI Advisory Committee Meeting have been held in Khartoum, Sudan. Water harvesting is one of the five thematic areas which have been agreed on in the meeting and housed in Sudan by the Water Research Center, University of Khartoum, and the Regional Centre on Capacity Development and Research in Water Harvesting (RCWH) (UNESCO Category 2 Centre).