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UNDP-ENVSEC Project Fostering a Dialogue between Riparian States for Development and Establishment of Initial Legal and Institutional Frameworks for Increased Cooperation and Joint Management in the Kura-Aras River Basin Moving From Informal to Formal Cooperation in the Kura/Aras Basin.
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UNDP-ENVSEC Project Fostering a Dialogue between Riparian States for Development and Establishment of Initial Legal and Institutional Frameworks for Increased Cooperation and Joint Management in the Kura-Aras River Basin Moving From Informal to Formal Cooperation in the Kura/Aras Basin Prepared for Joint UNECE, UNDP and OSCE workshop on River basin Organizations, Water Governance and Regional Networking 23-26 October 2007 Almaty, Kazakhstan
Introduction • Kura-Aras river basin description • Historical developments with respect to transboundary cooperation • International projects promoting transboundary Cooperation • ENVSEC project approach to moving from informal to formal cooperation in the K-A basin
Kura-Aaras River Basin Georgia Turkey Armenia Azerbaijan Islamic Republic of Iran
Kura-Aras River Basin Description • Kura-Aras basin covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey • Population – about 12 mln • Area – about 188 000 km2 • Kura-Aras River System is a principle source of water for economies, ecology and social life in the basin Priority transboundary problems as identified in TDA: • Water pollution • Variation and reduction in hydrological flow • Ecosystems degradation • Flooding and bank erosions • Kura river affects the Caspian Sea ecosystem
Existing environmental/water agreements and recent developments • Soviet time agreements between Armenia-Iran (1957) and Azrebaijan-Iran on joint use of Aras river for irrigation, hydro power and domestic use; • Bilateral agreements between Georgia-Armenia (1998), Georgia-Azerbaijan (1998) Ministries on cooperation in environmental field; • MoU between Georgian and Azerbaijan Environmental Ministries (2007) on cooperation included establishment of a working group on exchanging information and joint monitoring of transboundary waters • European Neighborhood Policy Action Plans (2006): Riparian states are committed ”to identify possibilities with neighboring countries for enhanced regional co-operation, in particular with regard to water issues” • Individual Partnership Action Plans with NATO:the countries have committed to participate with their neighbors in the Science for Peace project on Environmental Impact of Pollutants in a Trans-Boundary Context objective of conducting an assessment of trans-boundary impact on environmental pollution in a regional context
Internationally Funded Projects on Regional Cooperation • 2001-up.REC Caucasus Water Program(Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) • 2000-2004. USAID. Water Management in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) • 2002-2003. EU/TACIS.Joint River Management Programme on Monitoring and Assessment of Water Quality on Transboundary Rivers (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) • 2002-2008. OSCE-NATO. Science for Peace Program - South Caucasus River Monitoring (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) • 2003-2005. UND-SIDA. Reducing Transboundary Degradation in the Kura-Aras Basin (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) • 2004-2008. USAID.South Caucasus Water Program(Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) • 2003-2006. German Govt. Trans-boundary cooperation for hazard prevention in the Kura-river basin. • 2005-2007. UNDP-GEF.Reducing Transboundary Degradation in the Kura-Aras Basin. PDF B Phase (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran) • Upcoming (2007-2009). EU/TACIS.Support to the Trans-boundary Management of the Kura River Basin.(Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia)
UNDP- ENVSEC Project on Development and Establishment of Institutional and legal Frameworks for Transboundary Cooperation (2007-2008) • Development of short-term and long-term options for legal and institutional frameworks • Regional meeting in Tbilisi to discuss the options • Development of most appropriate short-term option for legal and Institutional frameworks • Meeting in Geneva to discuss and agree short term option for legal and Institutional frameworks • Submission of final documents to countries for signing • Signing Kura-Aras Environmental Declaration
UN Kura-Aras Environmental Programme Kura-Aras Environmental Declaration EU UNEP UNDP Countries World Bank Bi-laterals ENVSEC
Potential developments after ENVSEC project completion • Kura-Aras Task Force is established (2008) • Kura-Aras GEF project PIU supports the Task Force (2008) • Kura-Aras environmental program starts (2008) • Kura-Aras Convention is developed and signed (??? Year) • Kura-Aras Commission is established