GWP CACENA made the first study of water supply and sanitation in the eight CACENA countries from an IWRM perspective.

Key challenges in Central Asia are the degradation of ecosystems and increasing water deficiency. It is a region of scarce water resources, many of which cut across national borders. The intensive use of the limited resources leads to conflicts of interest, making transboundary water resources management crucial to the sustainability of the region’s resources.

Building on the adoption of new water laws by Kazakhstan in 2003, Armenia in 2007 and Uzbekistan in 2009, GWP Central Asia and Caucasus (CACENA) pressed on to help put laws into practice.

With support from GWP and UNDP the Kazakhstan government has drafted an IWRM plan and established river basin councils, realizing that management problems could be helped off by IWRM.

23-25 March 2010, Ashgabat, Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan

Background 

GWP representatives from Stockholm were specially invited to participate through an initiative by our partners of the upcoming Country Water Partnership of Turkmenistan. This event was regarded as a strategic opportunity for introducing how IWRM can be a helpful mechanism in a concrete project.

A regional process to save the Aral Sea has resulted in an “Action Plan for the realization of the Decisions of the Presidents” of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Since December 2009, GWP Armenia and its Partners have been deeply involved in solving household wastewater treatment problems. As a result of long-time lobbying, in 2010 funds from the United Nations Development Programme Global Environment Facility (UNDP/GEF) were granted to address wastewater treatment in Parakar, Armenia, where it was a serious problem.

Dakar, Senegal, 21-23 January 2010

The event took place in Dakar, Senegal from 21 to 23 January 2010, at the invitation of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS).

 The meeting was held under the auspices of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Senegal and honored with the effective presence of the President of the Senate, the President of the National Assembly, the President of the Economic and Social Council, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Energy of the Republic of Senegal, as well as of the Minister for Energy and Water of the Republic of Mali, the Minister for Hydraulics and Sanitation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the Vice-Mayor of Dakar and the High-Commissioner of OMVS.

8-10 December 2009, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

This was the third time in the history of GWP CACENA when the region met in Kyrgyzstan. Halfway through the year the regional work plan had to be changed and the Annual Stakeholders Conference (Regional CP) was cancelled, due to uncertainties in the funding of the Work Plan.

 The RC meeting was attended by council members and partly by regional TEC member from all eight countries participated in the meeting.

In response to a decision of Heads of the Central Asian States to address the critical issues of water resources, climate change and ecosystem loss in the Aral Sea basin, GWP Central Asia and Caucasus became the platform for policy dialogues in all eight Central Asian nations.