Regional Dialogue and Cooperation on Water Resources Management in Central Asia
The goal of the project is to empower the countries of Central Asia to develop and implement mutually acceptable, long-term solutions to improve cooperation on transboundary water resources. This will be done by enhancing the regional dialogue and strengthening the capacity of regional institutions for water resources management. The project is implemented under the Berlin Water Process. More information can be found on the following web-page
Capacity building for cooperation on dam safety in Central Asia
The first phase of the project, funded by Finland, resulted in: (a) a model national law on safety of large hydraulic facilities, including dams, intended as a basis for national harmonized legal frameworks: and (b) a draft regional agreement on cooperation on dam safety, which stipulates, inter alia, the exchange of information and notification of other countries in case of dams accidents. In the ongoing second phase, all the Central Asian countries are improving or revising existing legal provisions and institutional modalities for dam safety. All have shown keen interest in pursuing subregional cooperation on dam safety by setting up legal and institutional frameworks along the lines of the proposed sub regional agreement. The project is being undertaken in cooperation with the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (EC-IFAS). More information can be found on the following web-page
Chu and Talas rivers project
On 26 July 2006, water relations in Central Asia took a significant step forward when the Kazakh-Kyrgyz Chu and Talas Rivers Commission was inaugurated with the support of UNECE. The establishment of the Commission created a mutually beneficial way for Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to share responsibility for water infrastructure used by both countries. A new project in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) - started in 2008 and funded by Finland - supports the further broadening of cooperation to improve the joint management of the Chu and Talas rivers, to include, among other things, protection of ecosystems and stakeholder participation in the river management. More information can be found on the following web-site
CAREWIB – the Central Asian Regional Water Information Base Project
CAREWIB, implemented by the Scientific Information Centre of the Inter-State Commission for Water Coordination, improves the availability and exchange of information in the water and environmental sectors in Central Asia. The project is making information flow on water issues more efficient and transparent. A second phase of the project, funded by Switzerland, started in autumn 2007. It focuses on improving the availability of information at the national level. More information can be found on the following web-site
Water quality in Central Asia
The United Nations Development Account has made funding available to UNECE for a project to improve cooperation and policy related to water quality in Central Asia. The project started in the beginning of 2009 and is being undertaken with the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC). A first step is to establish common principles for measurement, exchange of information and joint assessment. The development of more efficient national policies, including the standards and principles applied in the permitting of environmentally harmful activities, is another key aspect. As the water quality monitoring has seriously deteriorated since the early 1990s, it is a challenge to establish a basic monitoring network. More information can be found on the following web-site
Strengthening cooperation on hydrology and environment between Afghanistan and Tajikistan in the upper Amu Darya River basin
UNECE is supporting Afghanistan and Tajikistan in the development of hydrology and environment cooperation in the upper Amu Darya basin. From Afghanistan the Ministry for Water and Energy and the National Environmental Protection Agency, and from the Tajik side the Committee for Environmental Protection and Tajik Hydromet are project partners. On the basis of existing bilateral agreements the two countries will strengthen their cooperation and information exchange. The Russian Federation is providing funding for the project.
The project will facilitate the establishment of long-term cooperation between the two countries on hydrology and environment. The aim is also to improve the understanding and access to information about the water resources and environmental conditions in the upper Amu Darya basin to relevant stakeholder in the whole basin. The first bilateral meeting took place 27-29 March 2011 in Dushanbe. Please, see the press-release of the meeting here.
