4 January 2010: The “Weekly” newsletter of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for the period 4-8 January 2010 highlights UNECE’s recent activities on water-related energy issues in Central Asia. The newsletter reports on the first meeting of the Working Group on Strengthening Institutional and Legal Frameworks [on water resources] and the Development of the Aral Sea Basin Programme-3, which was organized on 10-11 December 2009, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with the support of UNECE. The Working Group discussed preliminary proposals to improve the efficiency of regional transboundary water cooperation, with a view to finding solutions to water and water-related energy issues in the region. During the meeting, participants highlighted the effects of climate change and the expected increase in water use, as well as intentions to use hydropower more intensively.
The event was the first in a series of regional meetings and national consultations designed to elaborate a set of proposals for review and approval by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on institutional and legal aspects of water resources, in the framework of the UNECE Programme on Regional Dialogue and Cooperation on Water Resources Management in Central Asia. [UNECE “Weekly” Newsletter] [Meeting Website]