ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan

On 10 November 2020, the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) organized an online meeting of the national experts on water and energy cooperation. Representatives from relevant ministries and agencies of the Central Asian countries and Afghanistan, as well as independent experts, attended the event. The SRSG Natalia Gherman made a welcome statement at the beginning of the event.

During the workshop, participants had an opportunity to further discuss terms of reference of an ad-hoc expert group on legal and Institutional aspects of water and energy cooperation in Central Asia, account taken of additional proposals put forward by the participating states. The delegations also were able to start taking stock and examining the existing regional arrangements and other normative acts related to water and energy cooperation between the Central Asian states, in order to work out a systematic approach to activities in this field.

Participating countries expressed gratitude to the Centre for the event and highlighted the importance of UNRCCA as a platform for fostering the regional dialogue on transboundary water management in the context of its mandate to promote water dialogue in the region through preventive diplomacy.