Second meeting of the Basin Dialogue in the Amu Darya River Basin in Urgench
On December 4, 2024, the Second meeting of the Basin Dialogue in the Amu Darya River Basin, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-financed by the EU and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), was held in Urgench, Uzbekistan. The Programme is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
“Water knows no borders. Cooperation among the countries along the Amu Darya is crucial to ensure the equitable and sustainable use of this precious resource, particularly in the light of climate change. Switzerland is glad to support the Central Asian countries in this endeavor jointly with Germany and the EU.” noted Ms.Lisa Marina Gampp, Regional Water and Climate Change Advisor, Program Manager Regional Water Infrastructure and Climate Change, Embassy of Switzerland in Uzbekistan
“Our programme supports regional cooperation in water resources management at the level of the two basins of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers through dialogue at all governance levels. It is encouraging to note that regional cooperation in Central Asia is supported by the joint efforts of the European Union, Germany and Switzerland. This cooperation will further strengthen our joint work”- underlined Dr.Caroline Milow, Manager of Regional Programme GIZ “Climate Sensitive Water Resources Management in Central Asia”
The meeting was attended by authorized representatives appointed by each Central Asian country (representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Central Asia, relevant line ministries), as well as representatives of the action’s international partners
The participants discussed the following issues:
– Improving regional cooperation through the development of monitoring and planning tools in accordance with the IWRM principles taking into account climate impacts based on agreement with national authorities;
– Discussion of the main results of the GIZ/SDC/EU water activities for 2024, proposal of priorities for 2025, proposals of partners for the project action plan for 2025;
– Discussion of proposals for joint work within the agreed priority area “Joint work to preserve the ecosystems of the Amu Darya River Basin, which includes zones of runoff formation and dispersion”;
– Discussion of the concept for running events within the framework of the International Day of the Amu Darya River in 2025.
For reference
* The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European countries. It is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. It acts globally to promote sustainable development of societies, environment and economies, so that everyone can benefit.
* The BMZ/SDC/EU co-financed actions join in the component of promoting regional cooperation in water resources management at the level of the two main river basins, namely the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya through a river basin dialogue that includes all necessary levels stakeholders of water resources management.
In this regard, the first meeting on the organization of Basin Dialogues in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins was held on November 30, 2023 in Tashkent.
Following the joint discussion held on November 30, 2023, the participating countries selected and approved the following priorities for the basin dialogue on the Amu Darya River:
– Joint work to preserve the ecosystems of the Amu Darya River Basin, which includes zones of runoff formation and dispersion
– Consideration of economic interaction/instruments/mechanisms in the Amu Darya River Basin, taking into account current agreements and decisions taken at the level of heads of state
– Introduction of automatisation, digitalization, monitoring and water resources management systems in the Amu Darya River Basin.
In 2024, in order to provide expert support, conduct analytical assessments and prepare proposals for the selected priorities (the first two thematic areas mentioned above), a grant agreement was concluded with the Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (SIC ICWC).
