SECOND MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP ON IWRM OF THE PARTIES TO THE 1992 UNECE CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION AND USE OF TRANSBOUNDARY
WATERCOURSES AND INTERNATIONAL LAKES
The Second Meeting of the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) of the Parties to the 1992 UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (hereinafter Water Convention) took place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 26-27 June 2006. The Agenda of the Meeting included a wide range of items to be discussed, in particular:
1. Progress in ratification of Protocols to the Water Convention.
2. Transboundary waters management in the UNECE region.
3. Synergy between the Water Convention and European Water Framework Directive.
4. Progress in implementation of the present work plan on IWRM for 2004-2006.
5. Contribution of the Water Convention to the activities of the United Nations and other agencies.
Under this agenda, the participants of the Meeting considered the following items:
5.1. The UN water mechanism and preparing a second edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report;
5.2. The UNECE’s activities in the field of security and cooperation in implementing initiatives of the UNEP, UNDP, and OSCE in this field;
5.3. UNDP Initiative on shared waters and opportunities for cooperation with the Water Convention in this field;
5.4. Project "Capacity building in sustainable use, management and protection of shared international groundwater resources in the Mediterranean region";
5.5. Raising awareness of the Water Convention and making contribution to holding the Sixth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” (Belgrade, 10-12 October 2007).
6. The European Union’s (EU) Water Initiative in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA).
The Water Convention’s Secretariat informed of the EU Water Initiative and the UNECE’s role in promoting dialogues on national policies in EECCA.
7. Flood prevention, protection and mitigation.
In addition, the participants considered the items related to providing a framework for flood prevention, protection and mitigation that includes the following components:
7.1. Legal (developed by Greece);
7.2. "Soft legislation” (Germany);
7.3. Capacity building (Hungary).
Furthermore, they considered draft Model Regulations on transboundary flood prevention, protection and mitigation that are to be submitted for approval at the Fourth Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention (Bonn, Germany, 20-22 November 2006). The agenda items were prepared by the Task Force on Floods in association with the Legal Council and in consultation with the European Commission.
8. "Capacity for Water Cooperation (CWC)” Project
The Second (“Information management and public participation in transboundary water cooperation”, Saint Petersburg, 8-10.June 2005) and Third (“Joint monitoring and assessment of shared river basins including early warning systems", Tbilisi, 31 October – 2 November.2005) Working Meetings under the Water Convention’s CWC project were summarized.
Suggestions on continuing the implementation of the CWC project and follow-up activities under the Water Convention’s CWC Project were discussed. The Secretariat informed of possibility to hold the next ordinary Meeting under the Water Convention’s CWC Project in 2007 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
9. Code of Conduct on Payment for Ecosystem Services under Integrated Water Resources Management (hereinafter Code of Conduct);
The activities in this direction are leaded by Switzerland that initiated work on developing a Code of Conduct at a workshop on ecological services and financing the protection and sustainable use of ecosystems (Geneva, 2005). A draft Code of Conduct was prepared by the Editorial Group consisting of representatives of the Water Convention parties, international and non-governmental organizations. The participants of the Meeting discussed a draft Code of Conduct to be amended according to the remarks and suggestions of the Meeting participants. The draft Code of Conduct will be submitted to the Water Convention Parties for approval at their Fourth Meeting (see above – Bonn, Germany, 20-22 November 2006);
10. Work plan on IWRM for 2007-2009 and beyond.
The key items that were put for discussion and took most time were item 9 (“Code of Conduct on Payment for Ecosystem Services under IWRM”) and item 10 (“Work plan on IWRM for 2007-2009 and beyond”) in the note (item 4 and 13 of the original – annotated agenda of the Second Meeting).
Suggestions on future activities in any direction were considered practically under all the items in the agenda of the Second Meeting.
The SIC ICWC Central Asia submitted comments and remarks to the Code of Conduct, most of which were adopted by the Water Convention’s Secretariat, and suggestions on drawing up a Work Plan on IWRM for 2007-2009 (hereinafter Work Plan). In particular, under the items on Work Plan the SIC ICWC submitted 9 projects, of which 3 following ones were supported by the Water Convention’s Secretariat:
1. Under Program Area I: “Popularization of the Water Convention, activities carried out under it and consulting services”. Item 1. “Popularization and distribution of information”:
- Holding a special session, dedicated to the 1992 UNECE Water Convention and the 2000 European Water Framework Directive, under activities on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the ICWC Central Asia (Almaty, 2007). Possible funding source: Water Convention fund;
2. Under Program Area II: “Integrated water resources and related ecosystems management”. 2. “Capacity building” 2.1. “Integrated transboundary waters management in EECCA”:
- Project 1: “Development of a strategy for small transboundary river water resources use in Central Asia”. Expected results: Strategy for small transboundary river water resources use agreed between the Parties, reducing a potential for conflicts in this field. Leader: UNECE. Potential partners: (external): UNESCAP, EC, GWP; (from the countries and region): ICWC, national Central Water Agencies in Central Asian states; local communities in respective frontier areas. Period: 2007-2009. Potential funding sources: UNECE, UNESCAP, EC.
- Project 2: “Development of rules for transboundary aquifer resources management in Central Asia”. Expected results: Assessment of transboundary aquifer resources in Central Asia, their economic, ecological and social value, limits of their use for irrigation and other needs, workshops, development of rules for transboundary aquifer resources management. Leader: UNECE; Potential partners: (external): UNESCAP, EC, GWP, UNESCO, FAO, IAH; (from the countries and region): ICWC, national Central Water and Hydrogeological Agencies in Central Asian states; local communities in frontier areas of adjacent countries; Period: 2007-2009; Potential funding sources: UNECE, EC, FAO, IAH.
It is necessary to give the persons responsible for preparation of a draft Work Plan, which was clearly stated (position, goal, scope and geography of work, leading party, potential partners and so on) their due because it enabled the SIC ICWC to propose potential projects, mainly under “vacant” positions of the Work Plan. As for the projects supported by the Water Convention’s Secretariat, they are really of current importance for our region.
So, for small transboundary river water resources use, it was concluded that there is a potential for conflicts. Under certain circumstances, water disputes in frontier areas (local level) can take a political shade and impact on interstate relations, and socio-political stability in frontier areas of adjacent Central Asian states largely depend on settling this problem. The issues of transboundary aquifer resources management in relation to international law have not been settled in Central Asia yet. The problem also concerns ensuring security in frontier areas of adjacent countries.
Representatives of the Water Convention’s Secretariat and Parties (countries responsible for separate directions of activities under measures carried out by it – Germany, Finland, Norway, Italy and others), EECCA (Azerbaijan, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Ukraine, Estonia and others), governmental, non-governmental, and international organizations took part in the Meeting.
Central Asia was represented by Kyrgyzstan (Prof. E. Shukurov), IFAS (H. Ibodzoda), CAREC (B. Yessekin), SIC ICWC Central Asia (Y.H. Rysbekov).
The Meeting was held in a friendly manner, a business approach to solving raised issues dominated. The suggestions of the Meeting participants, especially representatives of the Water Convention Parties responsible for separate directions of activities, differed in clearness. It should be noted that most suggestions of representatives from our region, and Azerbaijan and Ukraine were adopted by the Secretariat of the Water Convention.
At the same time (in this connection), in the meeting there was also an irritated remark of a representative from Serbia with the following approximate matter (here the meaning is exact, he spoke in English): “We meet, discuss important issues many times and have experience in negotiating, but it turns out that more than a half of participants in this Meeting are not Anglophones”. It is obvious that the representative of Serbia equates “knowledge” (in certain field) with “knowledge of English”, and “frequency of trips abroad” with “experience in international relations”. One should not argue that there is a big difference between compared notions, and that such tone is unacceptable at meetings of any level. It appears that such attacks should not be set aside.
The Meeting was chaired by Ms Sibylla Vermont (Switzerland). Thanks to her and her team (Ms Francesca Bernardini, Mr. Rainer Enderlein, Mr. Bo Libert), the participants of the Second Meeting of the Working Group on IWRM succeeded in discussing all the agenda items and making appropriate decisions for a relatively short time (2 working days for consideration of more than 10 items, of which a few were too capacious: Code of Conduct, reports on activity directions, Work Plan for 2007-2009).
Y. Rysbekov
meeting participant
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