This brochure presents a package of recommendations for policy and practice on improved local water governance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).The recommendations were developed by 68 practitioners, researchers and policy makers representing different regional and national organizations in the MENA region who participated in the EMPOWERS Regional Symposium(on End-Users' Ownership and Involvement in Integrated Water Resources Management - IWRM) that was held in Cairo, November 2005.

These recommendations that are seen as a basis for further efforts towards the achievement of improved local water governance in the MENA region are distilled from the working groups' discussions on the symposium following themes:

• Key issues related to local ownership and governance in local-level IWRM.
• Community participation in local IWRM.
• Capacity building and information sharing.
• Innovations in water and wastewater management.
• New insights in decision support systems at local level.