1. Water Governance & Mainstreaming: The objective is to support institutional strengthening by ensuring that national water strategies and plans properly address issues of sustainable water resources management based on internationally accepted principles of IWRM, and to mainstream water considerations in other relevant sectoral policies and strategies as well as in national development plans.

2. Capacity Building: The objective is to contribute to the empowerment of water related institutions and to strengthen competent national and regional training institutions and professional networks that will also continue SWIM activities beyond the duration of the Programme.

3. Application of Water Management Plans: The objective is to strengthen intra-sectoral and inter-sectoral dialogue as well as exchange of experience in liaison with other on-going initiatives (e.g Horizon 2020 and MED EUWI) and project.

4. Identification of good practices and success stories in the region and beyond: The objective is to identify and promote good practices and success stories on water management.

5. Development of a Communication and Awareness Raising Strategy: The objective is to develop a regional strategy for communication and awareness raising to be applied regionally and nationally. The strategy will target key players inside and outside the water sector, stakeholders, civil society, the media and the general public in the Partner countries.

6.  Support the EC with the overall coordination of the SWIM Programme, particularly by assisting Demonstration projects and strengthening the interactions and communication between these and the activities implemented under the Support Mechanism.

Water resources in the Mediterranean are scarce, unequally distributed in space and time, degraded and poorly managed. This situation is likely to deteriorate further in view of the increased population and rural migration/urbanisation trends, fluctuating economic growth and the unpredictable impacts of climate change. Countries have traditionally focused more on investing on “hardware”, in the form of large infrastructure projects and less on “software”, in terms of policy reforms, governance, efficiency, fiscal and environmental sustainability, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. The challenge is to manage water resources holistically, in an accountable and transparent manner, in view of contributing effectively to the sustainable development, stability and prosperity of the Mediterranean region.

The EU policy in the Mediterranean region is guided by the European Neighbourhood Policy and the related Action Plans. In the area of the environment, the Euro-Mediterranean Partners have committed themselves to increasing efforts to substantially reduce the pollution of the Mediterranean by 2020 through the “Horizon 2020 Initiative” (H2020). The initiative aims to tackle the main sources of pollution, namely wastewater, municipal waste and industrial pollution, by the year 2020.

Another important initiative is represented by the Mediterranean component of the EU Water Initiative (Med-EUWI), whose objective is to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development Targets for water and sanitation through the adoption of IWRM policies and measures at national and regional levels.

At international level, Mediterranean countries have been committed to implementing the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development, launched by the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development established under the United Nations Environmental Programme Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP). In 2008, the parties to the Barcelona Convention signed a Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean, identifying adaptation to climate change as a priority. The Marrakesh Declaration, adopted by the Barcelona Convention in November 2009, highlights the need for urgent action to counterbalance the potential serious impacts of climate change on ecosystems and resources.

On 13 July 2008, the European and Mediterranean Heads of State and of Government created the Union for the Mediterranean. The intention was to give a new impetus to collaboration in the region, based on the progress achieved by the Barcelona Process. Removing pollution from the Mediterranean is among the priorities identified during the Paris Summit on the Mediterranean; the importance of water was also acknowledged. As such, both issues require exceptional and coordinated efforts from authorities at all levels, and also from the private sector, particularly financial institutions.

In compliance with the mandate given by the Heads of State, the Ministerial Conference on Water, held in Jordan on 22 December 2008, decided on the fundamental guidelines for a new Strategy for Water in the Mediterranean (SWM) and its subsequent Action Plan.

The main priority areas of this new Strategy are:
- Water Governance,
- Water and Climate Change,
- Water Financing and
- Water Demand Management and Efficiency, including non-conventional water resources.

However, in spite of the consensus reached on the content of the Strategy, due to the lack of political agreement among the parties, the 4th Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Water held in April 2010 in Barcelona failed to adopt a finalised version of the SWM. The adoption of the draft Strategy is still pending.

Taking into account this context the European Commission has launched the Regional Programme "Sustainable Water Integrated Management" (SWIM Programme) to be implemented under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI).

SWIM Partner Countries are: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria* and Tunisia.

The Project addresses the four core themes that are reflected in the draft Strategy for Water in the Mediterranean (i.e. water governance, water and climate change, water financing and, water demand management and efficiency), supporting concrete measures that would arise from the draft Strategy - if eventually adopted - but are not conditional on its adoption to pursue concrete improvements at regional level.
It also targets water issues that are linked to the three main sources of pollution identified by the Horizon 2020 Initiative to De-Pollute the Mediterranean: municipal waste, municipal wastewater, and industrial emissions.

*In May 2011, the European Union decided to suspend all cooperation with Syrian authorities

SWIM – Support Mechanism (SWIM-SM) is the Component of the Programme that provides Regional Technical Assistance to Partner Countries.

 Funded by the EC with a budget of €6,7 Million and with a duration of 4 years (2010-2014)*, this Component aims at:

•  Providing strategic assistance to the Partner Countries in designing and implementing sustainable water management policies and plans, involving inter-sector dialogue as well as stakeholder consultation and participation;
• Contributing to institutional reinforcement, to the development of the necessary planning and management skills and to know-how transfer;
• Raising awareness on the threats on water resources, the necessity to switch to more sustainable consumption models and possible solutions to face challenges

Furthermore, SWIM-SM also:

 - assists technically the Demonstration Projects implemented under the second Component of the SWIM Programme and;

- undertakes Capacity Building activities identified under the Horizon 2020 Capacity Building – Mediterranean Environment Programme (H2020 CB/MEP).

SWIM-SM Target groups include relevant ministries (water and irrigation, agriculture, environment, industry, tourism and trade), water utilities, river basin organisations, municipalities, water users associations, NGOs, media, universities and regional and national research centres.

* In 2014 the EC extended the duration of the Project for 1 year, until December 2015