GenevaThe First Steering Committee meeting of the European Union (EU) Water Initiative National Water Policy Dialogue on integrated water resource management (IWRM) in Tajikistan will take place in Dushanbe on Wednesday, 16 March. The National Policy Dialogue on IWRM Steering Committee meeting is organized by the Tajik Ministry of Land Reclamation and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), with the support of the United Nations Development Programme in Tajikistan.
The meeting will be opened by the Minister of Land Reclamation and Water Resources of Tajikistan, Rahmat Bobokalonov, and Special EU Representative to Central Asia, Ambassador Pierre Morel.
The main focus of the National Policy Dialogue is the development of the Government of Tajikistan Water Sector Strategy based on IWRM principles, including the river basin management approach. Transboundary water cooperation with neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, as well as Afghanistan (management of the Upper-Amu Darya Basin), is another important issue on the National Policy Dialogue agenda.
Radical reforms in the agricultural and water sectors are ongoing in Tajikistan. It is expected that as an outcome of the ambitious Water Sector Reform, water management in Tajikistan will be transferred from administrative units to river basin authorities, which should be created during 2011–2013. Further on, a long-term IWRM strategy is planned to be developed. To oversee development of the Tajikistan Water Sector Strategy, the long-term IWRM policy and their implementation, the Government of Tajikistan has established an inter-ministerial National Policy Dialogue on IWRM Steering Committee consisting of high-level officials representing 20 ministries and agencies.
The National Policy Dialogue on IWRM activities in Tajikistan are supported by the EU through the EU Water Initiative, the UNECE and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For more information, please visit: www.unece.org/env/water/npd
Note to editors
The National Policy Dialogue on water is the main operational instrument of the EU Water Initiative (EUWI), an international partnership that aims to contribute to the achievement of the water-related Millennium Development Goals. It is also a part of the UNECE Water Convention Workplan for 2010–2012. UNECE is the EUWI strategic partner responsible for coordination of National Policy Dialogues on IWMR in countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Implementation of the EUWI National Policy Dialogues on IWRM is supported in 2010–2012 by the European Commission, the UNECE and the Governments of Finland, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland.
Ref: ECE/ENV/11/P08