9 April 2013: The National Policy Dialogue (NPD), a Turkmen inter-ministerial expert group with participation from the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), adopted principles for a draft Water Code at a meeting of the NPD Steering Committee.

The draft Water Code supports the principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM), water saving, and access to information and public participation. The development of the draft Water Code follows the accession of Turkmenistan to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes in August 2012. According to UNECE, Turkmenistan is now expected to begin the legislative coordination process on the Water Code.

The “Water Management and Basin Organisations in Central Asia” project, funded by the EU, supported the NPD Steering Committee meeting, which took place on 5 April 2013. The NPD aims to enhance inter-sectoral cooperation on water resources management and protection within the framework of the EU Water Initiative. NPDs are also taking place in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine. [UNECE Press Release] [UNECE Website on National Policy Dialogue]