CAREC participated in the International Conference on Water Cooperation in Central Asia
November 23-24, 2017, Tashkent, CAREC took part at the International scientific-practical conference on “25 years of water cooperation in Central Asia: past experience and future challenges” that was held in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Interstate Coordination Water Commission (ICWC).
Among the participants of the conference were the representatives of ministries of agriculture, water and energy resources of Central Asian countries, diplomatic corps, international and regional organizations, expert and academic community.
On the first plenary session, CAREC Executive Director Dr. Iskandar Abdullaev gave a presentation on “Water cooperation in Central Asia: insights from CAREC”. All projects implemented by CAREC are aimed to support and promote environmental and water cooperation in Central Asia. The presentation also contained the facts of CAREC water initiatives support program and existing cooperation platforms created by the Centre. Dr. Abdullaev attracted the attention of participants to common actual problems of the region: factors that increase the resource intensity, serious consequences of climate change, increasing inter-sectoral competition for water.
Another important information was given on the published joint study conducted by CAREC and adelphi, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) within the framework of the Blue Peace Central Asia Initiative. “Rethinking Water in Central Asia: The costs of inaction and benefits of water cooperation” demonstrates the price of inaction and benefits of cooperation in the field of water management between the countries of the region. By raising awareness of these costs of inaction, and by setting out a variety of pathways towards eliminating them in the future, the present report seeks to encourage and support Central Asian policy-makers in strengthening regional water cooperation and improved water governance.
The same day, within the framework of the conference, CAREC participated at the Central Asian international exhibition on “Water Technologies and Water Management – WATER-2017”, which gave an opportunity to demonstrate CAREC projects, knowledge products and other dissemination materials. In particular, the following projects were presented: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Smart Waters, European Union funded “Raising Awareness and Partnership for Sustainable Water and Environment Development in Uzbekistan” (UzWaterAware), the above-mentioned SDC funded project on cost of inaction and other programs.
The next day, on November 24, UzWaterAware project’s manager Mr. Jusipbek Kazbekov did presentation at the Round Table #6 (parallel sessions) on “Raising public awareness on water and environmental issues”. UzWaterAware project is a part of EU “Sustainable management of water resources in rural areas in Uzbekistan” programme and is aimed at raising the awareness on importance of water saving, efficient use of water resources and environmental protection in terms of climate change.
The same day, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a member of ICWC Mr. Shavkat Khamraev gave high assessment to CAREC activities and expressed his thanks for the constant methodological support. CAREC Executive Director Dr. Abdullaev was conferred the breastplate “ICWC – 25 years” and memorable gift for the active participation, support and assistance in activities of regional organizations and the contribution to the development of regional water and environmental cooperation in Central Asia.
During two days of the conference the following topics were presented and discussed: water diplomacy in the region, transboundary water cooperation and its further strengthening, the projects of international and regional organizations, water-energy-food-environmental security, integrated water resources management (IWRM), role of youth in the processes, legal and institutional aspects, education and capacity issues, financial and economic instruments.