17.11.2023 - 18.11.2023 | Almaty, Kazakhstan

International Conference: Water Unites – Strengthening Regional Cooperation on Water Management in Central Asia

Organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Government of Germany, the Executive Committee for the International Fund for the Saving of the Aral Sea (EC-IFAS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Conference is hosted by the Kazakh Executive Board of IFAS and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Conference is a follow-up to the Berlin Conference “Water Unites” on 1 April 2024, where the “Berlin Water Initiative” was launched by German Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The main objective is to assess short- and long-term challenges in the field of cooperative water management in Central Asia, in order to generate more coherent, efficient and better targeted action to address these challenges. High-level representatives of the countries of the region, the UN, the European Union, regional organizations and other members of the international development community are among the invitees.

The draft programme includes the presentation and discussion of the following:

  • Water-related Aspects of the joint UN Agency Assessment of Development Risks in Central Asia;
  • The Water and Environmental Pillar of the Central Asia Strategy of the EU and the European Commission;
  • A Modular Project, developed by German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) with the support of the Federal Foreign Ministry of Germany and UNECE under the „Berlin Water Initiative“;
  • The East Caspian Assessment made by the Environment and Security Partnership (ENVSEC);
  • A Cooperation Framework of International Organizations for work on Integrated Water Resources Management; and
  • The need to modernize the legal and institutional basis of cooperative water management in Central Asia.

The inauguration of the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, which has moved from Dushanbe to Almaty, will also take place during the Conference.

Information in Russian can be found here.


Source: UNECE, Federal Foreign Office of Germany