1
Evaluation of the Project
Capacity Building for Cooperation on Dam Safety in Central Asia (July 2021)
Final Progress Report as of 31 December 2023
# Recommendation Management response Responsibility Date of implementation/comments
1 UNECE to continue supporting national and
regional capacities on hydraulic and hydro-
electric structures and cooperation on dam
safety, in close cooperation with relevant
global and regional organizations, and
donors.
UNECE partially accepts the recommendation.
Depending on available funding UNECE will
continue to support cooperation on dam safety if a
proper regional institution willing to address the dam
safety challenges is allocated. However, supporting
capacities on hydro-electric structures has never
been the focus of UNECE initiative. UNECE will
explore cooperation opportunities with the
International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS)
which is mandated to address the dam safety
challenges in the region.
Project Manager Closed without implementation in June 2023
During the reporting period efforts were made to identify a
regional institution mandated to address the dam safety
challenges in Central Asia. On 27 July 2021, a letter was
sent to the Chair of the Executive Committee of the
International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) with the
proposal to lead and coordinate the work on dams’
challenges in the region. A reminder was sent on 3
December 2021.
As of June 2023, no response has been received
regarding the letter addressed to the IFAS.
In addition, the project manager raised this issue during a
meeting with the Executive Director of IFAS. Despite the
expressed importance of this area for the region, the
Executive Director did not welcome the inclusion of this
matter in IFAS’ activities.
.
2 UNECE Secretariat to present the findings
of this review to the Committee on
Environmental Policy to continue promoting
dam safety awareness across all
government agencies and among general
public.
UNECE accepts the recommendation.
The results of the evaluation and the management
response will be presented at the next CEP meeting
in November 2021.
Programme
Manager
Implemented as of 30 June 2022
The results of the evaluation and the management
response were presented at the Committee on
Environmental Policy, 3-5 November 2021
https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2021-
12/Item_3_presentation_Dam_Safety_project.pdf
3 During the future similar project designs
UNECE should include explicit provisions to
address gender equality, vulnerable people
and disabled in project activities, outcomes,
as well as reporting. One of the directions
UNECE partially accepts the recommendation.
1. Gender assessment is part of the standard
template of the concept note and it was
addressed at the design stage of the project. As
to the vulnerable and disable people this aspect
Project Manager
and PMU
Partially implemented as of 31 December 2023
1. The updated ECE Concept Note and Project
Document template includes requests to assess
stakeholders’ vulnerabilities and how the intervention
attempts to bridge them. It also asks an assessment of
how the project addresses gender equality, human rights,
2
# Recommendation Management response Responsibility Date of implementation/comments
could be to make a study/assessment of
how gender roles, as well as situation of
vulnerable/disabled people could be
influenced by displacement and
environmental migration as a consequence
of a major dam accident. National crisis
management agencies should be actively
integrated in these efforts
was not part of the project template and can be
added subject to amendment of the concept
template.
2. Follow-up projects on dam safety will assess in
the inception phase the potential impact of the
project on gender equality and the situation of the
vulnerable groups, as reflected in the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development.
Leaving no one behind and disability inclusion.
2. As of 31 December 2023 there was no follow up
project on dam safety. This recommendation is closed as
not implemented.
5 In the future projects UNECE should
systematically assess, monitor and
document the usefulness and expected
impact of the capacity development
workshops by canvassing feedback from the
participants through a well-tailored
questionnaires, quiz approach application
and internet based tools as e.g. Survey
Monkey. These assessments should include
a space for qualitative comments and
improvement proposals by participants
UNECE accepts the recommendation.
This recommendation will be brought to the attention
of the Director of Environment Division and will
apply in future Dam Safety projects if any.
Project Manager Implemented as of 30 June 2022
The recommendation was brought to the attention of the
Director of Environment Division and will apply in future
dam safety projects.
6 The purposes of sustainability in
development of legal, regulatory and
technical frameworks on dam safety in
Central Asia, UNECE should maintain
frequent engagement with Governments
and other partners through, but not limited
to, advisory missions
UNECE accepts the recommendation.
The challenges and the need to strengthen
cooperation in the area of dam safety in the region
as well as the results of the UNECE initiative will
be presented at the various events (SPECA
Working Group on Water, Energy and
Environment, relevant regional platforms; Water
MoP) conducted in the region. UNECE will also
provide advisory, intermediary, mediation services
to other donor and development
organizations (e.g. IWAC, GIZ, AFD) interested in
addressing the Central Asian countries' dam
safety challenges. In addition, it will be
implemented through various relevant missions
including conducted by the Regional Advisor on
Environment.
Programme
Manager and
Regional Adviser
Implemented as of 31 December 2023
The project results, lessons learnt as well as the dam
safety challenges in the region are regularly presented at
the regional and national events that are conducted in
Central Asia. The final results of the project were
presented at the SPECA Working Group on Water,
Energy and Environment, 10-11 November 2021.
The project manager is regularly contacted and consulted
by governments and regional organizations that are
engaged or plan to engage in the dam safety activities in
the region. For example, inputs were provided to the work
plan of the International Water Assessment Center
(IWAC).
UNECE has continued to raise awareness about the
project results in subsequent years. A presentation was
delivered at the 25th meeting of the SPECA WG on
Water, Energy and Environment. UNECE staff attended
3
# Recommendation Management response Responsibility Date of implementation/comments
the 2nd International Training Workshop on the Safety of
Hydraulic Structures
(https://iwac.kz/index.php/en/news/340-central-asian-
experts-will-share-experiences-in-ensuring-the-safety-of-
hydraulic-structures-at-a-workshop-in-bratislava )
organized by the International Water Assessment Center
in cooperation with Government of Slovakia
Cooperation on water resources and dam safety was a topic
for discussion of a meeting between the UNECE ES and a
staff member with the Slovak organizations dealing with
these issues (23 November 2022).
UNECE received a letter from the Ministry of Water
Resources of Uzbekistan with a request to support
addressing dam safety in the country.
On 20 April 2023 the need to strengthen dam safety
cooperation was discussed at the regional meeting
organized by the UN Regional Centre for Preventive
Diplomacy in Central Asia (UNRCCA). Initiating new
activities on dam safety was also discussed with the OSCE
Office in Dushanbe on 5 May 2023.