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 on Phase I and Phase II.
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
UNECE supports activities on water management of the transboundary Kazakh-Kyrgyz rivers Chu and Talas, having initiated and implemented the projects "Support for the Creation of a Transboundary Water Commission on the Chu and Talas Rivers between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan" (Chu-Talas I, 2003-2007) and “Developing cooperation on the Chu and Talas Rivers” (Chu-Talas II, 2008-2011). More information can be found on the following web-page.
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 was implemented in 2009-2012 in cooperation with the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC). Project objectives included the establishment of establish common principles for measurement, exchange of information and joint assessment on shared water resources. As the water quality monitoring has seriously deteriorated since the early 1990s, it is a challenge to establish a basic monitoring network. The development of more efficient national policies, including the standards and principles applied in the permitting of environmentally harmful activities, were other key aspects of the project. A project report and an external evaluation are available. More detailed information can be found here
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 2012 in Dushanbe. Please, see the press-release of the meeting here.
