The MedWet Steering Group met for its ninth meeting in Athens, Greece on the 27 and 28th of January 2011. All eight members were present for the meeting giving the Steering Group (SG) full quorum and leading to a productive meeting. The agenda, report and conclusions of the meeting are available here in English and French.

The SG designated Nejib Benessaiah as Coordinator of the MedWet Initiative for the period 2011-2012. This decision is the culmination of a process that began on January 2011 when the Chair of MedWet Steering Group sent a letter to all the members of the Mediterranean Wetlands Committee (MedWet/Com) proposing the designation of the current Interim Coordinator as full MedWet Coordinator and requesting comments on this proposal. At the date of the Steering Group meeting, twelve written answers were received by the MedWet Secretariat, eleven of which were positive. This selection followed a closed door interview of Nejib Benessaiah by the SG members which can be transmitted to the MedWet/Com members by the Chair of the SG, upon request. Further explanations on the procedure are given in the report in sections 3.6 and 3.7 (available in English or French).

Nejib Benessaiah has been working for the MedWet Initiative since 1996 and has worked closely with all previous MedWet Coordinator’s. During the MedWet2 project he was in charge of the socioeconomic sector and for seven years he held the position of Policy Advisor. During these years he successfully implemented innovative projects like the LIFE 3rd Countries Maghreb Wetlands, Water Dialogues in the MENA Region and the TwinMed projects.