UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Press Release

[Index]

UNECE

United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe

UNESCAP

United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific

United Nations launches project to promote dam safety
in Central Asia

Geneva and Bangkok, 7 April 2006 - To prevent major dam accidents in Central Asia, two United Nations regional commissions – the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific – are launching a project to help Central Asian countries work together to improve dam safety.

Central Asia has around 300 major dams and other water control facilities, mostly on rivers separating countries. The dams are aging and are not adequately maintained. Meanwhile, the number of people living downstream from dams is growing. For example, the Fergana valley, which is divided among Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has 9 million inhabitants. If a dam upstream from this valley were to break, the consequences could be disastrous.

The UNECE-UNESCAP project, which will be launched at a meeting in Almaty (Kazakhstan) on 10 and 11 April, has two goals.

The first goal is to help countries establish dam safety regulatory networks that are in harmony with the networks of neighbouring countries, and to ensure that relevant principles are reflected in national legislation. While Uzbekistan has an adequate legal framework in this regard, frameworks in the other countries are not as well developed. Having harmonized institutional and legal networks makes it easier to share information about the status of specific dams.

The project’s second goal is to promote cooperation between countries so that information can be shared quickly about the risk of accidents, and so that countries can effectively warn and help neighbouring countries in case of an actual accident. This way, if a dam is in serious risk of collapsing, downstream regions are given a chance to react in time.

The April meeting, which is arranged in collaboration with Kazakhstan’s branch of the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, will focus on national legislation and the institutional structure. A second meeting in autumn 2006 will focus on subregional cooperation.

The Central Asian subregion includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

For more information, please visit http://www.unece.org/env/water/damsafety.htm or contact:

Mr. Bo Libert
Regional Adviser
UNECE Environment, Housing and
Land Management Division

Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Phone: +41 (0)22 917 2396
Fax: +41 (0)22 917 0621
E-mail: [email protected]

Mr. Kojhi Iwakami
Economic Affairs Officer
UNESCAP Environment and Sustainable Development Division

UN Building
Bangkok 10200, Thailand

Phone: 662 288 1542
Fax: 662 288 1059
E-mail: [email protected]

Ref: ECE/ENV/06/03