Achievements of the European Union Water Initiative

in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia(EUWI-EECCA)

Gheorghe Constantin

Chair, EUWI-EECCA WG

Jurmala, 15-18 April 2015 1

Glaciers melting

9

EUWI-EECCA Component

9

EUWI for EECCA region

- Objectives-

• Improve institutional and regulatory framework

• Ensure financial viability of utilities

• Investments in water supply, sanitation and rehabilitation

• Ensure access of the poor to water services as a basic human rights

• Safeguard public health

• Protect the environment

• Establish and implement national policies for IWRM

• Develop the inter-state cooperative structures for river/lake basin management

10

EUWI for EECCA region

• Covers 12 countries (former Soviet Union)

• Implement IWRM and WSS through National Policy Dialogues (NPD) as the main operational instrument

• UNECE is key strategic partner on IWRM, transboundarywaters => NPDs are part of the Water Convention programme of work

• OECD is key strategic partner on water supply and sanitation as well as water resources management financing

• WG for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia is chaired by the Romanian Ministry of Environment, Waterand Forests

11

• NPDs are a platform for the policy discussions and preparation and implementation of national policy documents (e.g. Governmental and Ministerial Orders) –“policy packages”

• NPD are led by a senior official, usually the Deputy -Minister for Environment/Water Resources

• High-level officials representing different sectors of economy (water, agriculture, industry, other) comprise NPD Steering Committee

• Stakeholders include governmental entities, NGOs, science, private sector entities,

• Donors and international organizations take part in the SCs meetings

NPD – a policy process rather than a

technical project

12

Major issues addressed by the NPDs IWRM

• Strengthening water legislation (EU WFD and other

directives, Water Convention): development of water

strategies, laws, regulations based on IWRM principles

(AM, AZ, GE, MD, UA, TJ, TM).

• Issues of drinking water quality (UNECE – WHO Protocol

on Water and Health) (MD, UA, AM, GE).

• National policies for management of transboundary waters

(UNECE Water Convention) (AZ, GE, MD, UA, TJ),

• Adaptation of the water sector to climate change (MD,

UA).

13

EUWI EECCA National Policy Dialogues

Selected outcomes

• accession to Water Convention by Turkmenistan facilitated through NPD process

• Kyrgyzstan: basin management plan and Basin Management Council for Chu river; reform of economic instruments for water management

• Azerbaijan and Tajikistan develop Water Sector Reform Strategies

• Moldova develops a strategy to adapt water services and infrastructures to climate change

• Ukraine reforms the scale and scope of WSS services

• progress in transboundary cooperation (Dniester, Chu-Talas, Kura river basins)

• SFP and investment plans for WSS in Armenia, Moldova, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, etc.

13-14 February 2013 Bishkek 14

Policy packages developed in 2013/2014 in EECCA region

• -New national Water Law/Code drafted in line with IWRM & EU WFD (Georgia,Turkmenistan)

• -National Water Sector Reform Strategy drafted (Azerbaijan, Tajikistan)

• -Water management institutional restructuring carried out to support IWRM(Tajikistan)

• -Strengthening the use of economic instruments for water management at nationallevel (Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia) and at transboundary level (Armenia,Azerbaijan, Georgia)

• -Developing national targets under the Protocol on Water and Health (adopted-Kyrgyzstan, set-Tajikistan, under development - Armenia)

More information:

EUWI Annual Report 2014 -

2014 Report on implementation of the EUWI NPDs on IWRM and WSS prepared by UNECE and OECD

Central Asia - Kyrgyz Republic (1)

2008: launch of NPD

Priority areas of work & main activities

-Strategic financial planning for WSS

-Implementation of IWRM principles, including the use of economic instruments

- support for establishment of a Basin Council for Chu River basin

- Target setting for the Protocol an Water and Health.

Key achievements

- A national financing strategy for urban and rural WWS

- Setting up of a River Basin Council for Chu River

- WSS development targets added to the latest National Strategy for

Sustainable Development

- targets on water and health formally adopted in 2013

16

Central Asia - Kyrgyz Republic (2)

Plans for the future

-supporting the Chu River Basin Council and preparation of the basin

management plan

- a draft Action plan on improving the use of economic instrument for

water resources management

Sources of funding for NPD

European Union, Government of Denmark, Government of Finland,

Government of Germany, Government of Norway, Government of

Switzerland

17

Central Asia - Kazakhstan (1)

2012: preparatory work

2013: launch of NPD

Priority areas of work&main activities

- 2013-2014 NPD focused on two topics: an analysis of potential benefits of

accession to the Protocol on Water and Health and sustainable business

models for WSS in rural areas and small towns, and private sector participation

in WSS.

- opportunities for addressing transboundary cooperation and IWRM

governance

Key achievements

- comments provided by both OECD and UNECE on Kazakhstan’s State

Programme for Water Management to 2040. Programme adopted in April 2014.

18

Central Asia - Kazakhstan (2)

Plans for the future

-water is a key pillar of the Kazakh Green Economy Concept – future work

- support for transition of Kazakhstan towards a Green Economy by 2020 and for

implementation of the State Programme on Water Resources Management to 2040

- target setting process in the context of Protocol on Water and Health is planned

Sources of funding

European Union, Government of Germany, Government of Norway, Government of Switzerland

EUWI-EECCA Component 19

Central Asia - Tajikistan (1)

2009: launch of NPD

Priority areas of work&main activities- Design and implementation of a programme for water sector development based onIWRM principles, including basin management

- Further implementation of Water Supply Programme 2000-2015, including basinmanagement

- Strengthening of transboundary water cooperation with Kygyzstan and Afghanistan

Key achievements

- the Water Sector Reform Strategy finalized in 2013 and its implementation started in late 2013 with the key institutional change

- NPD as an umbrella process for transboundary water diplomacy (cooperation with Afghanistan and management of a transboundary basin with Kygyzstan (Isfara basin)

- Targets proposed for the application of the Protocol on Water and Health

- A training workshop for capacity building to monitor the performance of water utilities, to review proposals for tariff increase by operators and to measure and address affordability issues

20

Central Asia - Tajikistan (2)

Plans for the future

-NPD Working Group on legal issues – contribution to the process of

necessary changes to the Water Code and other legal acts for

implementation of IWRM

- further cooperation with the Antimonopoly Agency – capacity building

to strength/improve the economic regulation for WSS

-development of a strategic plan for the irrigation sector in order to

combine food and water security and achieve financial sustainability.

Sources of funding for NPD

European Union, Government of Denmark, Government of Finland,

Government of Germany, Government of Norway

21

Central Asia - Turkmenistan (1)

2010: launch of NPD

Priority areas of work&main activities

-- convergence of national water management legislation and process andprocess with the EU WFD, including principles of IWRM and RBM

- review of existing national legislation and development of a new NationalWater Code

Key achievements

-Reviewing the national legislation with the aim to adopting the 1992 UNECEWater Convention – in August 2012 Turkmenistan acceded to the WaterConvention.

- 2013 – a new draft Water Code in order to enact the legal changes in line withthe Water Convention and principles of IWRM

22

Central Asia - Turkmenistan (2)

Plans for the future

-Supporting the process of having the draft Water Code adopted by thenational Parliament in 2014

-An elaboration of the possibility to join 1992 TEIA Convention and theProtocol on Water and Health will start in late 2014

- Drafting the roadmap for implementation of the IWRM principles inTurkmenistan

Sources of funding for NPD

European Union, Government of Denmark, Government of Norway

23

Central Asia - Uzbekistan (1)

April 2010: a joint OECD/EAP TF and UNECE to inform local stakeholders

about EUWI activities

Discussions to start NPD on WSS (reform of water tariffs) and IWRM

24

Central Asia - Uzbekistan (2)

a short pilot project on benchmarking the performance of Uzbek water utilities, using IB-Net

indicators (March -September 2011) – implemented by OECD and financed by the

Government of Germany.

Outputs of the project included in an OECD publication on water and sanitation in EECCA (

which was released at the Astana Environment for Europe Conference in 2011)

International Conference on Development of cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin to mitigate

consequences of the environmental catastrophe, Urganch, Uzbekistan, October 28 – 29,

2014

25

Workplan for the future

Managing water for green growth

Water quality in the Caucasus (in cooperation with EU-funded EPIRB project)

The economic dimension of RBMP (Tajikistan)

Water supply and sanitation (Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan)

Work on water and health (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan)

The water-energy-food security nexus

UNECE pilot nexus assessment for transboundary rivers in 2014-2015 (Alazani, Syr Darya)

Support to the development of basin management plans (Kyrgyzstan)

Reform of the economic instruments for water management (Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia)

Water and agriculture (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan)

Transboundary water diplomacy

OECD calculation of economic benefits of transboundary water management

Supporting transboundary negotiations and projects (Kura, Chu-Talas, Dniester)

Thank you for your attention!

More information:

www.euwi.net/wg/eecca

27