Rationale: The focus of programme area I is the promotion of the Convention and its achievements in order to encourage new Parties to ratify it and Parties to ratify its amendment to articles 25 and 26 opening the Convention to countries outside the UNECE region . Activities in this programme area also aim to develop new partnerships and synergies. Furthermore, the advisory service will provide legal and technical advice to countries to help them comply with the provisions of the Convention.

Responsible body: The Bureau with the assistance of all other Parties and the secretariat.

1.1 Promotion and dissemination of information

Objectives: The Meeting of the Parties will disseminate information on activities carried out under the Convention or related to it, raise the profile of the Convention and its protocols, and provide Parties and non-Parties with information to help them implement the Convention. Efforts will be devoted to promoting the Convention and its success in all possible contexts, including meetings and workshops organized under the workplan. Activities will also support compliance with Decision III/1 on the amendment to the Water Convention and promote the Convention’s achievements outside the UNECE region.

Work to be undertaken: Activities will include:

(a) Presentations of the Convention and its achievements at high-level meetings in UNECE countries and at international meetings. In particular, special events will be organized at the sixth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” (Belgrade, October 2007) focusing on the assessment report on the status of transboundary waters in the UNECE region, the Rules on payments for ecosystem services in integrated water resources management and/or the Protocol on Civil Liability. The Convention and its achievements will also be promoted at the UNEP Governing Council meeting in 2007; at the International Conference for the fifteenth anniversary of the Interstate Coordination Water Commission of Central Asia (spring 2007); at the fifth Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe (November 2007), in the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum process under the Spanish chairmanship, including the preparatory conference in Zaragoza (12-13 March 2007) and the Economic and Environmental Forum in Prague (21-23 May 2007), in the water segment of the sixteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in 2008; at the Expo Zaragoza 2008 on Water and Sustainable Development; at the UNESCO Conference on Transboundary Groundwater Management in 2008, at the fifth World Water Forum in 2009 and during the annual Stockholm Water Week and meetings organized by INBO; (b) Development of a communication plan and relevant tools to raise the profile of the Convention (e.g. informative leaflets, website); (c) Promotion of the Convention, its Protocols and its soft-law tools outside the UNECE region. Regional workshops will be organized in Latin America, Asia and North Africa on the usefulness of the Convention in those regions to implement the international principles of water law and support transboundary water cooperation; and (d) Support to Parties’ ratification of the amendment to articles 25 and 26 opening the Convention for accession to countries outside the UNECE region, in particular by disseminating the results of the workshops organized outside the UNECE region.

Lead Party: For activities under (c) and (d), lead Party to be defined. The Legal Board will prepare the necessary background studies for the workshops. The other activities will be implemented by the Bureau with the assistance of all other Parties and the secretariat.

Main partners: Cooperation will be sought with other UN Regional Commissions, UNESCO (for organization of regional workshops), UN-Water, the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), the International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network (IW:LEARN), GWP (for promotion of the Convention in Latin America, Asia and North Africa and in particular GWP- Med for the organization of regional workshop in North Africa), ICWC and WWF (for assessment of use of the Convention in East Africa and organization of regional workshop in Latin America).

1.2 Advisory service

Objectives: The Meeting of the Parties will assist Parties and non-Parties, at their request, in ratifying and implementing the Convention. Assistance will include legal and technical assistance. For example assistance will be provided in drawing up, revising and/or adapting agreements on transboundary waters and in strengthening national and transboundary water institutions. The Meeting will provide guidance to joint bodies in the region to strengthen their capacity in integrated river basin management and water protection in line with article 9, paragraph 2, and other relevant articles of the Convention.

Work to be undertaken: With the assistance of the UNECE Regional Advisor for the Environment, the Bureau will make ad hoc arrangements – at the request of the Meeting of the Parties, its Working Groups and/or UNECE countries – following the terms of reference of the Advisory Service. To assist the Bureau, the Parties to the Convention will nominate experts to form a network to provide assistance on request to countries and joint bodies.

In the period 2007–2009, the Meeting of the Parties will help countries in South-Eastern Europe (SEE) to improve transboundary water cooperation by defining needs and bottle-necks in the region – with a special focus on Albania, Serbia and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – and by raising awareness in the region and among donors on the steps needed to develop transboundary water cooperation . Furthermore, the Meeting of the Parties will provide assistance to Serbia to draw up a new bilateral agreement with Romania. Work in the region will be done in cooperation with the Petersberg Process and Athens Declaration, including the organization of a roundtable in 2007.

In the period 2007 – 2009, the Meeting of the Parties will support the implementation of the Convention’s provisions in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) through a number of projects (e.g. revision of the legal and institutional framework for cooperation between Moldova and Ukraine on the Dniester River, dam safety in Central Asia, environmental impact assessment in the Chu-Talas basin, and Ilis-Balkash basin shared by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China). Furthermore, the Meeting of the Parties will help Azerbaijan and Georgia to draw up a new bilateral agreement.

The Legal Board will provide legal assistance to Parties and non-Parties, at their request, in drawing up new agreements or adapting existing ones on transboundary waters in line with article 9, paragraph 1, as well as other relevant articles of the Convention.

Lead Party: Finland supports the dam safety project in Central Asia and Norway the environmental impact assessment project on the Chu-Talas basin. Sweden has expressed interest in work in SEE (to be confirmed).

Main partners: Cooperation will be sought with the UNECE Regional Advisors, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and its Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Ramsar Convention(for work in SEE ), the REC, the EECCA RECs, Petersberg Process and Athens Declaration and Global Water Partnership.