More than 300 participants from 36 countries and representatives of the most active international agencies and donors attended the conference to discuss regional sustainable water resources management issues. The opening plenary speeches were made by each of the five Central Asia high level ministerial representatives. Address notes were given via video speech by L. Fauchon, the President of WWC. Key note speeches were given by J.F.Donzier (INBO), Ambassador Miroslav Jenča (UNRCCA), S.R. Ibatullin (EC IFAS), L.Guye (Swiss Dev Coop Agency) – main international donors of regional cooperation in Central Asia.
GWP Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki held a keynote speech about GWP as a neutral platform for capacity building, and concluding the session that IWRM is a tool for balancing multiple uses of water, emphasising the need to separate regulatory functions from management.
This conference aimed to seek joint co-operative actions in transboundary basins in Central Asia, a region with serious conflicts between upstream and downstream countries. Reports and recommendations from the conference are available at www.cawater-info.net/6wwf.
High level officials from Russia proposed to the Conference participants a Charter of Water Security to be adopted as an outcome of the meeting for submission to the WWF-6. A consensus on the charter was however not reached at the conference, but the process to create a statement will continue. The draft is available and open for comments.
(Photo: CACENA Coordinator Vadim Sokolov and GWP Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki)