UNECE launches the National Policy Dialogue on Integrated Water Resource Management in Georgia
Geneva, 23 September 2010 --
The UNECE-led National Policy Dialogue on Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in Georgia was officially initiated on 14-17 September 2010 in Tbilisi. Over these four days, the representative of the UNECE Water Convention Secretariat held a series of meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia, other ministries, private companies, NGOs and international donor organizations involved in water management in Georgia.
The National Policy Dialogue on IWRM in Georgia focuses on three major topics:
- preparation of the National Water Law based on the IWRM principles;
- setting up the targets for implementation of the UNECE/WHO Protocol on Water and Health of the UNECE Water Convention; and
- transboundary water cooperation with neighbouring Azerbaijan.
Mr. George Zedginidze, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia, welcomed the start of the National Policy Dialogue IWRM process and considered the programme as an important instrument in promoting reforms of the water sector in Georgia.
For more information, please visit: http://www.unece.org/env/water/npd.htm
Note for Editors:
The National Policy Dialogues on IWRM programme assists governments of the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucausus and Central Asia in implementing IWRM in line with the principles of the UNECE Water Convention, the Protocol on Water and Health, the EU Water Framework Directive and other UNECE and European Union instruments. National water policy dialogues are the main operational instrument of the European Union Water Initiative, an international partnership that aims at contributing to the achievement of the water related Millennium Development Goals. Their implementation over the period 2010 – 2012 is supported by the European Commission, the governments of Finland, Denmark and Switzerland.
Ref: ECE/ENV/10/P26