Water Forum calls for region-wide task force to tackle most urgent water issues
16 July, Astana — Participants to a key civil society gathering decided today to assemble a regional group that can lead discussions on and enable steps towards mainly transboundary water problems and hydropower issues facing Central Asia and the Caucasus.
The regional water task force will formally convene within a month to strategize on common courses of action. It will be based on a broad NGO alliance that includes water professionals.
The agreement came after almost three days of intense and robust dialogue on water-related issues of each countries as well as the region, water rights, sharing of water between the riparian countries, water governance amongst and between non-government organizations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, including officials from the governments of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Key transboundary issues such as climate change occupied center stage as the event's participants grappled with the threat of warming temperatures and the impact of rapidly melting glaciers, which are the source of many of the region's major rivers and tributaries.
Weaving through the issues were the problems of water security, projects financed by international financial institutions (IFIs) and the promotion by IFIs of water policies harmful to the poor and to ecosystems.
The participants were intent throughout the event to resolve 15-years of persistent water problems in the region after independence. The three-day Water Forum concluded on a very promising note.
Participants to the water gathering agreed that the key role of NGOs in the water issue was not just to criticize or support government initiatives, but to facilitate and help shape a more robust, open conversation and negotiation among governments in the region. #