In this 13th issue of the Newsletter, enjoy news from activities carried out under the Water Convention and its Protocol on Water and Health from 1 March to 31 May 2021.

More than 200 experts representing governmental authorities from 63 countries, joint bodies, non-governmental and international organizations, as well as academia, reviewed progress in the implementation of the Water Convention’s activities, started preparation for the 9th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention (MOP9) (29 September – 1 October 2021) and discussed the draft programme of work for 2022-2024 during the 3rd joint meeting of the Working Groups (26-28 April 2021). Guinea Bissau, Iraq, and Togo reported on their significant progress made towards accession to the Convention. More information on the meeting here.

The Global workshop on building climate resilience through improving water management and sanitation at national and transboundary levels (Geneva and online, 29–31 March 2021) looked, from a holistic perspective, at the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on water resources management, both at the national and the transboundary levels, and on water supply and sanitation systems and, ultimately, human health. It was followed by the 12th meeting of the Task Force on Water and Climate and was organised under the Protocol on Water and Health and the Water Convention in cooperation with the WHO/Europe, under the leadership of Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, in partnership with AGWA, GCA, INBO, UNDRR and WMO. More information in available here.

The 12th meeting of the Working Group on Water and Health under the Protocol took place in Geneva and online on 14 and 15 April 2021. Representatives of 38 countries and partner organizations reviewed the relevance, lessons learned and perspectives of the Protocol on Water and Health in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the progress achieved by Parties and other States in implementing its programme of work for 2020-2022.
The meeting featured two special sessions: one on the equitable access to WASH (Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation) and a session on financing of the water and sanitation sector in the pan-European region, (IRC & International Water and Sanitation Centre), followed by a panel discussion with representatives of Kyrgyzstan, OECD, WHO and World Bank.

On 23-24 March 2021, the Expert Group on equitable access to water and sanitation under the Protocol on Water and Health convened online for its sixth meeting, gathering more than 60 participants, including 23 countries, the European commission, civil society, service providers and international organizations, to exchange experience on equitable access. Organized in cooperation with France and Hungary, the meeting took stock of recent progress made by countries to enhance equitable access to water and sanitation in the Covid-19 context, discussed the relevance of the Protocol’s tools in relation to the new equity dimension of the EU DWD recast (in force since January 2021) and launched a brochure on affordability to be developed under the Protocol. More information, including the summary report of the meeting, is available here.

On 22 April 2021, the University College London (UCL) hosted an online conference “The Implementation Committee of the Water Convention” organized in cooperation with University of Bologna, University of the Pacific and UNECE.
Parties to the Convention and members of Implementation Committee introduced the Committee to over 180 participants from all over the world. Renowned international lawyers debated on the role of the Committee in international dispute settlement. The Committee’s advisory procedure was praised for allowing effective approaches to prevention of water disputes.
In his concluding remarks, Philippe Sands (UCL) stressed that lawyers should work cooperatively with other areas of expertise to identify sustainable solutions. Having scientists on board as in the Implementation Committee is important for success.

The online Expert Meeting on Monitoring, Assessment and Data Exchange on 1 April discussed the past and future work on monitoring and assessment under the Water Convention, in particular the existing guidelines on Monitoring and Assessment, analyzing the different options for updating them and complementing them by collection of good practice, and possible new guidance on cross-cutting issues. More than 100 participants representing 54 countries, joint bodies, non-governmental and international organizations as well as academia participated in the virtual meeting. UNEP/GEMs Water, World Bank and WMO expressed interest to collaborate on this programme area in the future, as well as, gave specific related inputs. Updating a strategies publication in the framework of the next Programme of work (2022-2024) was discussed.

The NWSAS basin is an essential water resource for 4.6 million people in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. The steadily growing water abstraction, combined with high impacts of climate change, puts enormous pressure on this vital water resource.

Strengthened cooperation is urgently needed from decision makers in the Basin in order to meet the rising challenges. The policy brief “The benefits of transboundary water cooperation in the North Western Sahara Aquifer System basin” issued in December 2020 identifies the benefits of cooperation so far, to inspire additional cooperative actions to improve the sustainable development of the NWSAS Basin. It was developed through a participatory process involving the 3 countries, building on guidance developed under the Water Convention. For more info.

Good practices and difficulties in cooperating for the management of transboundary waters and the achievement of SDG target 6.5. in the Latin American region were identified during the “High-level seminar on progress and challenges in transboundary water cooperation in Latin America in the framework of the SDGs and their indicator 6.5.2” on 23-24 February 2021. The seminar, organized as part of the activities of the XXI Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors (CODIA), in collaboration with UNECE, UNESCO and support of the Inter-American Development Bank, gathered more than 90 participants from the region.

The High-level meeting on the “Implementation of the Water-related Goals and Targets of the 2030 Agenda”, organized by the President of the United Nations General Assembly, highlighted the need for an immediate and integrated global response to rapidly improve progress on SDG 6, with only 10 years to go to achieve the SDGs. Seven Heads of State and Government, 48 Ministers, and more than 100 representatives from intergovernmental organizations, the UN system and stakeholders engaged in the meeting. Over 20 Member States stressed in their statements the importance of transboundary water cooperation, including the need to strengthen the international legal framework e.g. through the Water Convention.
On the occasion of the High-Level Meeting, 161 countries also issued a cross regional Statement on water, initiated by Finland which highlights that “Strengthening transboundary water cooperation is essential for reaching the water-related SDG targets and the broader sustainable development goals.”.

The European Union Water Initiative Plus worked on bilateral cooperation at the technical level between the National Environmental Agency of Georgia and Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Centre of Armenia in the Ktsia/Khrami-Debed River basin has progressed with the support of the Water Convention and other partners. A series of online meetings on finalisation of the Armenian-Georgian Joint Transboundary Monitoring Program guidance document was held in April-May 2021. Countries discussed the potential of reaching a technical agreement as a next step.

On 21 May 2021, Ghana officially launched the National Implementation Plan for the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) and the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (Watercourses Convention).  The launch event, co-organized by the Water Resources Commission of Ghana and the Secretariat of the Water Convention, aimed at presenting the detail of the actions, measures of the Plan, a timeline and resources required. Several partners, including the Embassies of France, Germany and Hungary, the Swiss development cooperation as well the Volta Basin Authority attended the meeting. For more info.

• Frequently Asked Questions Publication on the 1992 Water Convention is now available in 4 languages: ENG, FRE, RUS and ARA;
• On 31 March 2021, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine endorsed the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the Dniester basins for 2021-2035 to ensure 8 million inhabitants of the basin will benefit from transboundary water cooperation in the region. The SAP was developed under the guidance of the Dniester Commission with support of the GEF/UNDP/OSCE/UNECE project;
• UNECE and partners explore opportunities to finance Water-Food-Energy-Ecosystems Nexus projects in the Western Balkans. More information about the event is available here.

• 21 June 2021: Briefing for Permanent Missions in Geneva on the 9^th Session of the Parties under the Water Convention;
• 15-16 June 2021: Twenty-first meeting of the Compliance Committee under the Protocol on Water and Health, including a special consultation session with the Russian Federation on 15 June (link to meeting website);
• June-August 2021: UNECE to collaborate with CCAD & GWP-CAM for Course on Water Governance and Water Security in Central America: Territorial dynamics from the basin to the sea in transboundary areas;
• End of June 2021: UNECE to cooperation with CCAD on organization of 3rd workshop on transboundary waters in Central America;
• June-July 2021: UNECE to cooperate with ECOWAS on the organization of regional webinars on the global Water Conventions and transboundary cooperation;
• 29 September- 1 October 2021: Ninth Meeting of the Parties of the Water Convention, Geneva/ Hybrid.

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