Munqeth Mehyar
Encyclopedia
Munqeth Mehyar (born January 16, 1957) serves as Chairman and Jordanian Director of EcoPeace/ Friends of the Earth Middle East
(FoEME). FoEME is a unique regional organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists to promote sustainable development and advance peace efforts
in the Middle East. The organization has offices in Amman
, Bethlehem
and Tel-Aviv, employs over 40 paid staff and actively involves hundreds of volunteers. It is a member of Friends of the Earth International, the largest grassroots environmental organization in the world.
As Jordanian Director, Mr. Mehyar leads FoEME activities concerning the Jordan River, the Dead Sea
and the Good Water Neighbors Project. As Chairman, his responsibilities include supervising international project development and management, serving as a liaison to and lobbying of governmental and private sector figures and organizations on major regional policy issues relevant to environmental protection, as well as developing international contacts and functional partnerships with international environmental and development institutions. Mr. Mehyar has organized dozens of regional conferences, workshops and study tours, supervised regional research on shared ecosystems, co-authored reports and policy papers and speaks regularly on water, peace and security issues, with the main emphasis directed towards the end of Israeli occupation and the creation of an independent "Palestinian State" with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Mr. Mehyar received a degree in Regional Planning and Architecture from the University of Louisiana, USA in 1981, upon which he became the planning engineer for South Amman. In addition to his role as the Jordanian FoEME director, he serves as Vice President of the Jordan Society for Sustainable Development. He is also on the Board of Directors of both the Jordan Sports Federation for the Handicapped and the Jordan Royal Ecological Diving Society.
Mr. Mehyar is married with 4 children, and resides in Amman
, Jordan
.
(Israel) and Nader Al-Khateeb
(Palestine) -- were honored by TIME
Magazine as Environmental Heroes of 2008 and the organization was granted the prestigious Skoll Award in 2009., Alexander Aristotel Onassis prize for the protection of the environment (Hamburg, 17 November 2010) and Anna Lindh Foundation award 2011. FoEME also received a 2008 SEED Finalist Award.
For more, see Publications tab on FoEME website
Munqeth Mehyar quoted in various articles in The Jordan Times
Video Clips on FoEME Projects
Friends of the Earth Middle East
Friends of the Earth Middle East is an organization active in environmental peacemaking in the Middle East.-Group focus and efforts:...
(FoEME). FoEME is a unique regional organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists to promote sustainable development and advance peace efforts
Environmental peacebuilding
Peacebuilding is both the theory and practice of identifying the conditions that can lead to a sustainable peace between those who have previously been adversaries, and assisting adversaries to move towards a sustainable peace. Environmental peacebuilding examines and advocates environmental...
in the Middle East. The organization has offices in Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
and Tel-Aviv, employs over 40 paid staff and actively involves hundreds of volunteers. It is a member of Friends of the Earth International, the largest grassroots environmental organization in the world.
As Jordanian Director, Mr. Mehyar leads FoEME activities concerning the Jordan River, the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
and the Good Water Neighbors Project. As Chairman, his responsibilities include supervising international project development and management, serving as a liaison to and lobbying of governmental and private sector figures and organizations on major regional policy issues relevant to environmental protection, as well as developing international contacts and functional partnerships with international environmental and development institutions. Mr. Mehyar has organized dozens of regional conferences, workshops and study tours, supervised regional research on shared ecosystems, co-authored reports and policy papers and speaks regularly on water, peace and security issues, with the main emphasis directed towards the end of Israeli occupation and the creation of an independent "Palestinian State" with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Mr. Mehyar received a degree in Regional Planning and Architecture from the University of Louisiana, USA in 1981, upon which he became the planning engineer for South Amman. In addition to his role as the Jordanian FoEME director, he serves as Vice President of the Jordan Society for Sustainable Development. He is also on the Board of Directors of both the Jordan Sports Federation for the Handicapped and the Jordan Royal Ecological Diving Society.
Mr. Mehyar is married with 4 children, and resides in Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
.
Awards
In 2000, His Majesty King Abdullah II awarded Mr. Mehyar with The Medal of Distinguished Giving for his charitable activities in Jordan. FoEME's three co-directors—Munqeth Mehyar (Jordan), Gidon BrombergGidon Bromberg
Gidon Bromberg is the Israeli Director of EcoPeace / Friends of the Earth Middle East . FoEME is a regional organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists to promote sustainable development and advance peace efforts in the Middle East...
(Israel) and Nader Al-Khateeb
Nader Al-Khateeb
Nader Al-Khateeb is the General Director of the Water and Environmental Development Organization , a non-profit Palestinian organization that promotes a number of environmental programs and projects centered around water quality control, water conservation, wastewater treatment and reuse, as well...
(Palestine) -- were honored by TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
Magazine as Environmental Heroes of 2008 and the organization was granted the prestigious Skoll Award in 2009., Alexander Aristotel Onassis prize for the protection of the environment (Hamburg, 17 November 2010) and Anna Lindh Foundation award 2011. FoEME also received a 2008 SEED Finalist Award.
Published works
FoEME Reports: co-author- Environmental Peacebuilding Theory and Practice
- Identifying Common Environmental Problems and Shared Solutions
- Good Water Neighbors
- Municipal Cooperation across Conflict Divides - A Preliminary Study
- Nature, Agriculture and the Price of Water in Israel
- Economic Valuation of Resuscitating the Dead Sea
- Advancing Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Dead Sea Basin - Broadening the Debate on Economic and Management Issues
- Let the Dead Sea Live
- Dead Sea Challenges
- One Basin - One Strategy
- Jordan River Peace Park Pre Feasibility Study
- How Past Trans-boundary Security Arrangements Can Change the Future of Peace Parks in the Tri-partite Region
- FoEME Report on the Proposed Red Dead Conduit
- Red Sea-Dead Sea Conduit - Geo-Environmental Study Along the Arava Valley
- A Seeping Time Bomb: Pollution of the Mountain Aquifer by Solid Waste
For more, see Publications tab on FoEME website
Video
Good Water Neighbors and youth - "Green Mideast Peace"External links
Munqeth Mehyar quoted in various articles in The Jordan Times
- "Better Red than Dead: Jordan grapples with water crisis."
- "Jordan Valley town poised to make history, again."
- "Environmental activists warn about global warming effects on Jordan, Palestine."
Video Clips on FoEME Projects