ME&A Evaluates Two Regional Water Projects for USAID Middle East Bureau
A ME&A team is developing the mid-term evaluation of two water activities managed by USAID’s Middle East Bureau/Technical Services. They are: Monitoring Agriculture and Water Resources Development (MAWRED), which is implemented by the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA); and Water Information System Platforms (WISPs) for Use in the MENA Region, which is implemented by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The two programs cover five Middle Eastern and North African countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.
The NASA Water Information System Platforms (WISPs) for Use in the MENA Region program was developed in partnership with the World Bank. The World Bank provides funding to select country ministries for the purchase of equipment, contracting of technical expertise and travel and training expenses, while the USAID-NASA partnership provides technical expertise to participating ministries in the area of remote sensing and modeling. This international project leverages billions of dollars in NASA investments in remote sensing technology.
The Monitoring Agriculture and Water Resources Development (MAWRED) program helps develop regional and country-scale analysis of climate impacts, water availability and demand. The program harnesses cutting edge space-based earth observations and hydrological modeling and represents a new era in water resources assessment in the region.
The ME&A conducted evaluation will provide findings and recommendations to be used by USAID to improve program implementation. The findings and recommendations will be shared with participating USAID Missions along with ICBA, NASA and other stakeholders.