INFORMATION ON HOLDING TRAINING SEMINARS WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF HEADS OF WATER USE DIVISIONS, AUTHORITIES OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AND MAIN CANALS (SYSTEMS) IN THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (MAWR) of Uzbekistan in collaboration with SANIIRI, SIC ICWC, and USAID/NRMP organized and held training seminars.
Thanks to the financial and technical assistance from SIC ICWC, the seminars on the “Prospects and possibilities of introducing the integrated water resources management principles. Methods and principles of making up a water balance and a plan for water use, organizing water resources accounting and use on basin system principle” were held from 10 to 14 February 2004 at the Training Center branch office in Urgench with the participation of specialists from Lower Amudarya Basin Irrigation Systems Authority (BISA) and from 16 to 19 February 2004 in ICWC Training Center in Tashkent with the participation of specialists from Chirchik-Akhangaran and Lower Syrdarya BISAs.
A training seminar was held in collaboration with the USAID from 15 to 19 March 2004 in USAID/NRMP Training Center at the Òashkent Institute of Engineers of Irrigation and Agriculture Mechanization. 11 managers of water use divisions of basin irrigation systems authorities were invited. Also, a seminar dedicated to “Water use by sectors of the conomy, including shirkat, private, and dekhkan farms and WUAs” was held from 6 to 10 April 2004 in USAID/NRMP Training Center branch office in Samarkand, inviting heads of water use divisions of Amu-Bukhara and Zarafshan BISAs.
Practical seminars were held jointly with SANIIRI and USAID/NRMP.
The main directions of training seminars were: (i) to train water users to reform agricultural and water sectors, move to market economy, organize and make up a balance of crop water consumption for water sources; (ii) principles and methods of making up water use plan; (iii) order of establishing water use limits for water users and WUAs by irrigation systems authorities (ISAs) and basin irrigation systems authorities (BISAs).
During the seminar, managers of irrigation system water use divisions obtained experience:
- to define the volume of water use, necessary to provide the economy of Uzbekistan (industry, energy and agricultural sectors and so on);
- to develop a united system to make up water use plans for water users, make up water resources balance and define water deficit for sources.
- to create a database on water and land resources for irrigation systems (ISAs and BISAs) at rayon and oblast levels as well as for the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources as a whole.
- to develop methods for making up water use plans for private farms, WUAs and irrigation systems by using computer.
Under the program, such seminars are planned to hold also with the participation of specialists from irrigation systems of Ferghana Valley, Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya oblasts.
ROUND TABLE, DEDICATED TO “VIABILITY OF WATER USERS ASSOCIATIONS IN UZBEKISTAN”
For supporting the establishment of WUAs in Uzbekistan, the MAWR of Uzbekistan in association with USAID/NRMP held a Round Table on the “Viability of Water Users Associations in Uzbekistan” on 22 April 2004 in Bukhara. 55 representatives from local authorities, banking and taxation organizations, Department of Justice, farmers, representatives of WUAs and heads of Amu-Bukhara BISA took part in the event.
The objective of the Round Table was to discuss factors that influence the viability of WUAs in Uzbekistan and develop recommendations for their sustainability.
During the Round table the factors restraining the development of WUAS were considered. The problems of financing WUAs were discussed openly. Practical advices on preparing basic documents for financing WUAs were given. The representative from the oblast-level tax inspection gave useful recommendations for taxation of WUAs.
The heads of private farms were explained the significance of important governmental decisions on the delivery of fuels, lubricants, and mineral fertilizers.
After the discussion of these governmental decisions, the farmers realized that in the future they could save means owing to storage organizations.
At the Round Table, the issues on the development of WUAs in oblast were discussed openly.
Erkin Kodirov, Head of Amu-Bukhara BISA, Matlyub Nugmonov, Head of Bukhara Oblselvodkhoz, and other meeting participants greatly appreciated the importance of the given event and expressed a hope of continuing the collaboration in the future.
The results of the Round table were:
- developing specific recommendations and proposals for improving the viability of WUAs;
- defining a number of issues that need to be solved at the level of WUAs, rayons, oblasts, ministries, and agencies as well as at the government level.
TURKMENISTAN: “WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE - 2003”
“Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene – 2003” Project implemented by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health of Turkmenistan, and Hyakimlik (Administration) of Dashoguz velayat (province) with the support of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was completed with “Children’s Water Forum”.
The forum held on 25 April in the capital of the velayat, Dashoguz, visually demonstrated the potential and prospects of children’s active participation in ecological and hygienic education. More than 300 senior pupils, members of sanitation teams from all the velayats of the country, made presentations on various aspects of water resources protection from the pollution, rules of water usage, ways of infections spreading, personal hygiene and public sanitation, safe removal of liquid and hard wastes in rural households.
“From child to child”, an education approach new for Central Asian countries, is one of the most effective methods for forming an “ecologically friendly” sense of the growing up generation. Along with hygienic education that had covered about 42,000 pupils at 50 rural schools, the project also included two technical components: improved water supply and improved sanitation. During the realization of these components, 50 school toilets of improved design were constructed, and 300 rural families obtained an opportunity to build such a sanitary toilet in their yards, wells were drilled at 50 schools for providing with service water, 102 wells repaired and constructed in villages.
A rapid reduction in the morbidity of pupils of pilot schools can be regarded as the main project achievement: the level of their infectedness with intestinal parasites reduced by more than two times. The activity of school sanitation teams activated as well.
The success of the project could be impossible without close coordination and collaboration of various ministries and departments that once again proves the necessity of an integrated approach to the issues of health protection and efficient water resources use.
UNDP KAZAKHSTAN PRESENTS KAZAKHSTAN INFOBASE
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Kazakhstan is glad to inform about opening a new Internet system of socio-economic indicators, Kazakhstan InfoBase, which represents an overall picture of human development in Kazakhstan and traces the progress of Kazakhstan in achieving the Millenium Development Goals.
Kazakhstan InfoBase has been developed to provide a free and rapid access to statistical information of national and international partners of the UNDP.
Kazakhstan InfoBase consists of five thematic sectors. Information is presented in tables and graphs, illustrating change in indicators in certain time interval. All the tables can be downloaded in Excel format. Glossary with the definition and methodology of calculating one or another indicator is proposed to help the users of Kazakhstan InfoBase.
We hope that Kazakhstan InfoBase will become a useful instrument in your routine work.
Kazakhstan InfoBase is available at: www.undp.kz/infobase
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