ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan

On 15-16 June, the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) organized an online capacity building seminar and the meeting of experts from Central Asia and Afghanistan, dedicated to cooperation in the field of water and energy in the Central Asian region.

Representatives of the ministries and state agencies of the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan, partner organizations, as well as international experts attended the event.

During the capacity-building seminar, participants were able to familiarize themselves with the application of environmental and social frameworks to enable development projects on international watercourses. The seminar was also focused on addressing the promotion of mutually beneficial cooperation on transboundary water resources management in Central Asia through applying legal instruments governing common and sustainable exploitation of transboundary watercourses.

A group of national experts on water, energy and environment from the Central Asian states and Afghanistan continued their work on inventory of regional agreements and other normative acts related to water and energy cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin. In addition, the participants exchanged and updated each other on the state-of-play in bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the neighboring countries in the water-energy and environmental fields. 

The delegations expressed their appreciation for the support of the Regional Centre and stressed the importance of UNRCCA’s regional platform for facilitating dialogue on transboundary water management in the context of its mandate through preventive diplomacy.