Newsletter of the Water Convention and Protocol on Water and Health
Issue n°9 (February - April 2020)

In this 9th issue of the Water Convention Newsletter, enjoy news from activities carried out under the Water Convention and its Protocol on Water and Health from 1 February 2020 to 30 April 2020.

What role can the Water Convention and the Protocol on Water and Health play in the response, preparedness, recovery and prevention of epidemics such as the Covid-19?

The timely and sufficient availability of water of adequate quality is a prerequisite for hygiene and for tackling possible impacts of the COVID-19 pandemics, including poverty, economic downturn, food and energy insecurity and political instability. Both the Water Convention and the Protocol on Water and Health are key instruments to promote the availability of safe water for all within countries and across borders and sectors and ensure a sustainable management of water resources. The Protocol can play a key role in the recovery, preparedness and response to possible future epidemics as it provides technical and policy support to help countries attain an adequate supply of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation for everyone ensuring that one is left behind. The Water Convention helps to prevent potential tensions between countries and transboundary impacts and supports early warning across borders, joint monitoring and assessment, mutual assistance etc. For more information about the relevance of both instruments with regards to the Covid-19 pandemics, please click here.

2020 Monitoring exercise on SDG indicator 6.5.2 and the Water Convention is launched!

In February 2020, all 153 States sharing transboundary waters worldwide were invited to report for the second time on SDG indicator 6.5.2 by 30 June 2020 and thereby to track their progress on transboundary cooperation. For Parties only, this exercise is combined with the second reporting exercise under the Water Convention. The Guide to reporting under the Water Convention and as a contribution to SDG indicator 6.5.2 supports countries in their reporting efforts. The reporting is part of the UN-Water Integrated Water Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6 (IMI-SDG6) and its 2020 Data Drive, launched in March 2020, as a joint efforts of all custodian agencies for SDG6 indicators.

In May 2020, UNECE and UNESCO organise a series of webinars in different languages to support countries in preparing national reports on SDG indicator 6.5.2.

A Nexus Toolkit for sustainable renewable energy investment and deployment to assist policy makers in addressing trade-offs and seizing opportunities with water resources and the environment

Building on the Water Convention’s nexus work, UNECE developed a “tool-kit” for sustainable renewable energy in transboundary basins. “Towards sustainable renewable energy investment and deployment: Trade-offs and opportunities with water resources and the environment” is a joint publication of the Environment and Sustainable Energy Divisions, which explains how energy-related objectives can be achieved more effectively through integrated and consultative planning. Policy makers need to ensure that the objectives of all sectors are considered and reduce pressure on the environment, also through the development of synergies (e.g. wastewater valorisation, sustainable biomass). The publication builds on UNECE’s experience, methods and tools, and calls for the toolkit’s application in countries and/or transboundary basins. More information on the publication here..

Montenegro becomes the 27th Party to the Protocol on Water and Health

On 20 February 2020, the Republic of Montenegro officially became the 27th Party to the Protocol on Water and Health, thus joining the community of countries working together to accelerate action on sustainable management of water resources and improve health and well-being for all. Accession to the Protocol brings many advantages as it provides a unique legal and institutional framework to implement the 2030 Agenda by bringing together the environment and health communities and supporting the strengthening of policies and institutional mechanisms at national level. It also helps countries to translate into practice the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, as highlighted by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, calling on all countries of the UNECE region to accede to the Protocol . More information about the Protocol and Montenegro’s recent accession here.

Enhancing transboundary water cooperation in the MENA region

On 3-4 March 2020, representatives from 10 countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and partners active in the region gathered in Beirut and discussed the current status of transboundary water cooperation in the region, its benefits, challenges, as well as possible avenues for progress. Participants shared good practices and lessons learnt from existing cooperation processes in transboundary basins of the region, looking more specifically at adaptation to climate change, data and information exchange and water allocation. Iraq, Jordan and Tunisia reported on their progress towards accession to the Water Convention, highlighting opportunities for MENA countries of joining. The regional workshop was jointly organized by the Water Convention secretariat, ESCWA and GWP-Med, with the support of EU and Sida.

Report of the workshop available here.

Supporting the monitoring and implementation of SDG indicator 6.5.2 in the Arab region

As part of the 6.5.2 regional activities, representatives from countries from the Arab region, the custodian agencies for SDG 6 indicators 6.5.2 and 6.5.1, as well as ESCWA discussed the outcomes of the 1st reporting exercise on transboundary water cooperation and how to address challenges faced by countries in data collection, coordinating the national reports and others.

More Information on the workshop here and here.

The Water Convention contributes to regional dialogue on transboundary waters in Central America

The Water Convention Secretariat contributed to the second regional workshop on “Understanding the challenges: Planning for regional and transboundary action” (Tela, Honduras, 17-18 February 2020), organized by the Global Water Partnership-Central America, together with the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD) of the Central American Integration System (SICA). The Secretariat presented the principles, benefits and experiences of the Convention to support the discussions between the 9 represented countries towards the establishment of a Regional Dialogue on Transboundary Waters and a Community of Practice in Central America.

Second meeting of the Expert Group on the Transboundary Water Allocation Handbook

The Expert Group on the Transboundary Water Allocation Handbook, which is comprised of nominated individuals with relevant expertise in water allocation, met via video conference on 30 and 31 March to provide strategic advice and inputs for the development of the Handbook. Revisions and updates to the Handbook outline were shared based on the first meeting, as was feedback on the content of the main chapters. Thematic presentations by experts and resulting reflections helped to further refine the main content elements and illustrative case studies, which culminated in brainstorming a draft set of main considerations for drawing lessons learned from global practice later in the process. The overall feedback will now be used in helping to draft the main Handbook content over the coming months. Documents from the meeting are available here and information on the Convention’s work on transboundary water allocation can be found here.

World Water Day 2020 celebrates linkages between climate and water

World Water Day, celebrated on 22 March, focused in 2020 on water and climate change. The UN-Water campaign highlighted how sustainable water management can help reduce floods, droughts, water scarcity and pollution, and help fight climate change whose impacts do not recognize borders. UNECE, together with WMO and UNESCO coordinated the day’s preparations in their capacity as co-coordinators of the UN-Water expert group on water and climate. This was an opportunity for the secretariat to highlight the relevance of the climate change adaptation activities under the Water Convention. The necessity of ensuring access to water and sanitation, for example for hand hygiene, in the current COVID-19 pandemic was a second focus of World Water Day. In this regard, the role of the Protocol on Water and Health, which supports countries in ensuring equitable access to water and sanitation, was also highlighted.

Taking into account the environment and people’s health in the application of Strategic Environmental Assessment

UNECE and the EU continue to support pilot applications of the Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) in Belarus and Georgia in the framework of the EU Water Initiative Plus programme for the Eastern Partnership Countries (EUWI+). With the aim to develop national capacity, remote training sessions on the SEA process were organized on 26 March for Belarus and on 6 April for Georgia, which covered evaluation of potential environmental and health effects, alternative planning options, development of mitigation and monitoring measures, and preparation of an environmental SEA report. A total of 16 national experts took part in the training sessions organized through videoconference facilities joined by international experts.

Additional information is available here..

Other projects and activities

In 2020, UNECE joins OHCHR and the entire UN community in the celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the recognition of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation. For the occasion, UNECE, as the co-secretariat of the Protocol on Water and Health prepared a written interview with the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation to highlight how the Protocol’s acticities on equitable access to water and sanitation contribute to realize the human rights to water and sanitation.

On 24 April, the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the Drin River Basin got a high-level endorsement, as result of a process supported by UNDP/GEF and implemented by GWP-Med and UNECE. The Water Convention assisted the riparians in particular in diagnosing the legal and institutional issues, monitoring and information exchange and the natural resource nexus.

The Water Convention’s nexus assessment methodology for transboundary basins, and synthesis from its applications, is now available in English, French, Russian, Spanish, and soon in Arabic.

On 15 April, UNECE contributed to the 3rd Project Steering Committee for the UNDP/GEF/OSCE/UNECE Dniester project by presenting the recent results in developing bankable project proposals for climate change adaptation in the Dniester delta and sharing its on-going activities in transboundary cooperation.

Apply for the WaterChangeMakerAwards 2020 Building climate resilience by changing water by the Global Water Partnership and partners: Basins, countries, organisations and individuals are invited to submit by by 7 June 2020, their initiatives on how decisions involving water have contributed to building resilience to climate change. More information on the initiative here.

Upcoming meetings and events:

Due to the current COVID19 situation, as of 16 March 2020, all meetings and activities under the Water Convention and the Protocol on Water and Health are being either held virtually, postponed or reconceptualized. Please kindly find below the new dates and format of meetings. Finally, the secretariat is also currently exploring opportunities for organising capacity-building activities online and while the secretariat works remotely, we remain responsive to demands and requests by phone and email (water.convention@un.org and protocol.water_health@un.org).

POSTPONED MEETINGS:

Global workshop on transboundary agreements: Initially planned on 1 - 2 April 2020, now planned on 28-29 July 2020 (Geneva, Switzerland) (tbc)

Fifteenth meeting of the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management : initially planned on 15-17 June 2020, now planned on 30 September-1st October 2020 (Geneva, Switzerland)

Other coming up meetings:

From 12 May to 28 May 2020- Series of webinars on SDG indicator 6.5.2: supporting countries in preparing national reports for the 2nd reporting exercise

Webinar 1 in English, Tuesday, 12 May 8:00–9:30 Accra / 10:00–11:30 Geneva / 15:00–16:30 Bangkok

Webinar 2 in French, Wednesday, 20 May, 12:00–13:30 Dakar / 14:00–15:30 Geneva / 15:00–16:30 Djibouti

Webinar 3 in Spanish, Wednesday, 27 May, 9:00–10:30 Panama / 11:00–12:30 Montevideo / 16:00–17:30 Geneva

Webinar 4 in Russian, Thursday, 28 May, 10:00–11:30 Geneva /11:00–12:30 Moscow / 14:00-15:30 Nursultan

Please register via the following link: https://bit.ly/35jJH8A

13-14 May 2020: Bureau of the Protocol on Water and Health

15 May 2020 – BY VIDEOCONFERENCE- Nineteenth meeting of the Compliance Committee under the Protocol on Water and Health

Find additional information on the Water Convention's website.