TENTH SESSSION OF THE MEETING OF THE PARTIES TO THE WATER CONVENTION
The 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 23 to 25 October 2024. The event brought together more than 600 representatives from over 100 countries, UN agencies, NGOs and international financing institutions.
The session began with a high-level segment entitled "Our Waters, our Future: Transboundary Water Cooperation to Power Climate Resilience", which was aimed to discuss the role of transboundary water cooperation for climate resilience and sustainable development in transboundary river basins.
During the general segment, on the second and third day, participants reviewed progress achieved under the programme of work 2022-2024 including climate change adaptation, source-to-sea management approach, conjunctive management of transboundary surface water and groundwater, transboundary water agreements development, intersectoral nexus cooperation, equitable and sustainable water allocation in a transboundary context, monitoring, assessment and data sharing, and the financing of transboundary water cooperation. Progress towards achieving the SDG target 6.5 was reviewed as well.
The meeting adopted a new programme of work for 2025-2027, highlighting the importance of strengthening financing mechanisms, resilience to climate risks and intersectoral cooperation, including through the nexus approach for coherent management of water, energy and agricultural resources.
Three new publications were launched at the meeting:
During the meeting, four new members of the Implementation Committee were elected and the work of the Committee over the past period was reviewed. The Implementation Committee held a separate side event entitled "Learn more about the Implementation Committee" (23 October). At this event, Atila Tanzi (Chair), Dinara Ziganshina (Vice-Chair) and Makane Moïse Mbengue (Committee Member) presented the tools used by the Committee to support countries in addressing emerging challenges, assists with compliance issues and facilitate knowledge sharing among Parties.
Fifteen side events were organized as part of the Meeting of the Parties. Director of SIC ICWC Dinara Ziganshina participated in the following side events, presenting research and approaches for sustainable water management in Central Asia.
The event "Water Management Innovations in the EU’s Eastern Partnership Countries” organized by the OECD and UNECE on the eve of MOP10, shared the experiences of Eastern European countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine) in the field of IWRM and national water policy dialogues and addressed the plans on development of similar activities in the Central Asian countries, including with the support of “Regional mechanisms for the low-carbon, climate resilient transformation of the energy-water-land Nexus in Central Asia/IKI project”.
The examples of intersectoral cooperation on climate change adaptation and the tools proposed for development as part of the IKI Nexus project were discussed at the event "Effective climate governance through a collaborative approach (Nexus)" organized jointly by UNECE and OECD on 24 October.
The models of cooperation and financing on adaptation in transboundary basins were discussed at the event "From incubation to financing for adaptation: developing water and climate projects in transboundary basins" organized by the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), the Network of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Water Management Organizations (EECCA-NWO) and the Africa Network of Basin Organizations (ANBO) on 24 October. The experiences of the Danube River Basin and Lake Victoria, as well as the approaches of the World Bank and the African Development Bank were shared. Summarizing the results of the session, Dinara Ziganshina outlined the overall directions for the future, including in Central Asia.
The crucial role of data sharing for increasing transparency and building trust between countries in transboundary water basins was highlighted at the event "Transboundary Data Sharing as a Tool for Water Diplomacy and Promoting Peace" organized by Finland, Switzerland and Senegal on 25 October. Dinara Ziganshina noted the role of data sharing in establishing dialogue and practical interactionы between countries and other stakeholders and spoke about the modernization of the Regional Information System in Central Asia. Both the benefits and potential challenges of using satellite data were highlighted as well.
The 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties will be held in Dakar, Senegal in 2027.
Read more about the event on the UNECE website
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