Water security requires effective governance attention to water’s vulnerability and value; to good management principles and practices; and to complex and rapidly changing social, economic, political and environmental circumstances. Water scarcity threatens the livelihoods of countless people in the Arab region, particularly in rural and poor communities. Remote areas with inadequate water and sanitation are especially vulnerable. But water scarcity also affects urban dwellers, particularly in less developed countries. Twelve Arab countries have average per capita water availability rates below the World Health Organization threshold for severe scarcity.1 Urbanization, population growth and climate change exacerbate the region’s natural water scarcity and widen the gap between supply and demand.