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Newsletter of the Water Convention and Protocol on Water and Health
Issue n°10 (May - July 2020) | In this 10th 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 May to 31 July 2020. | | |
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Ghana is the third African country to accede the Water Convention
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On 22 June 2020, Ghana became the 3rd African country (44th Party) to accede to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), and the 37th Party to the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (Watercourses Convention). The process of accession toward the Water Convention, led by the Government of Ghana, was supported by the Water Convention Secretariat, Green Cross International, WWF and others since 2018, and follows the recommendation of the Council of Ministers of the Volta Basin Authority made at its 7th session held in Accra (Ghana) on 10 May 2019. The benefits of Ghana joining the conventions include strengthening the development and implementation of the Volta basin legal framework, supporting transboundary cooperation on the other rivers that Ghana shares with its neighbours, and supporting Ghana's contribution to the global water agenda in the context of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. More information can be found here.
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First virtual global workshop on designing legal frameworks for transboundary water cooperation went viral!
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On 28 and 29th of July, the Water Convention secretariat organized the first virtual workshop on designing legal frameworks for transboundary water cooperation in collaboration with several partners. The workshop was tailored to assist countries in the design and drafting of agreements or other arrangements and to support the preparation of a checklist for developing legal frameworks. The workshop has brought together nearly 200 participants from countries around the world, both Parties and non-Parties, RBOs, financial partners, IOs, NGOs and academia and many others. The workshop resulted in a broad exchange of knowledge and experience. The main conclusive messages were that developing agreement remains a negotiation process that requires careful consideration of the implementation phase at an early stage. The process provides an opportunity to initiate a dialogue between all stakeholders on mutual benefit sharing around shared water resources.
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Second reporting exercise on SDG indicator 6.5.2 for the 2020 data drive
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Over 100 countries have submitted their replies to the second reporting exercise on SDG indicator 6.5.2, measuring transboundary water cooperation, by end July 2020. UNECE and UNESCO, co-custodian agencies for SDG indicator 6.5.2, thank all countries that submitted their report, and invite all countries sharing waters to submit their report for the 2020 Data Drive without delays. The co- custodians will subsequently provide the data to the UN Statistical Commission.
Support for SDG indicator 6.5.2 is available: a helpdesk, guidance documents or videos from a series of webinars, including countries examples. In the period 12 May – 4 June, more than 450 representatives worldwide participated to the series of 5 Webinars on SDG indicator 6.5.2: supporting countries in preparing national reports for the 2nd reporting exercise. The webinars highlighted good practices and discussed challenges in completing the 6.5.2 questionnaire; introduced the guidance materials; encouraged coordination of the answers at river, lake or aquifer levels; and favoured the exchange of experiences among countries.
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The Compliance Committee of the Protocol on Water and Health: future work and new membership
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At its nineteenth meeting (15 May 2020), the Committee met for the first time in the new triennium 2020-2022 to discuss its future work.
Committee members decided to develop a new interpretive note, which will analyse the provisions of the Protocol relevant to the COVID-19 crisis.
For its preparation, the Committee will benefit from the expertise of its distinguished members, including the newly elected ones:
- Catarina de Albuquerque, Executive Chair of Sanitation and Water for All and former UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation;
- Morten Nicholls, expert on water resource management working within the Norwegian Food Safety Authority;
- Anna Tsvietkova, WASH expert at the NGO “Global water Partnership-Ukraine”;
- Sergei Vinogradov, Senior Lecturer at at the University of Dundee, Scotland, visiting Professor at the China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies of Wuhan University and the MGIMO-University (Moscow).
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COVID-19 pandemic shows the importance of transboundary water cooperation
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The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the crucial role played by transboundary water cooperation and integrated water resources management in supporting recovery and prevention. This was among the conclusions of a webinar organised on 26 May 2020 by the Geneva Environment Network and the Water Convention secretariat.
Péter Kovács, Hungary, explained how the Convention helps countries to ensure performant monitoring and develop warning and alarm systems. Ben Ampomah, Ghana, shared the experience of his country in adjusting its national water management and cooperation with other riparian. Niokhor Ndour, Senegal, described how the Senegal River Development Organization (OMVS) and the Gambia River Development Organization (OMVG) contribute to the crisis management efforts. Sonja Koeppel, Secretary to the Water Convention, described the impact of the pandemic on the Convention’s activities, with the intergovernmental meetings postponed, held virtually. Participants highlighted that the COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of transboundary cooperation and foster preparedness. For more information, please click here.
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The Water Convention Implementation Committee holds a preparatory meeting
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The preparatory meeting for the eleventh meeting of the Implementation Committee under the Water Convention was held on 19 May 2020 afternoon by videoconference. The Committee discussed the advisory procedure which involves Montenegro and Albania and is related to the construction of small hydropower plants on the Cijevna/Cem River. The Committee discussed the information provided by the two countries and the key technical and legal issues involved. It formulated specific questions to the countries and expressed its readiness to offer practical assistance that the two countries may require. The eleventh meeting of the Committee is scheduled for 31 August – 1 September 2020 (to be confirmed).
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The Protocol Webinar Series 2020 has kicked off
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Launched on 8 July 2020, the Protocol Webinar Series, organized by UNECE and WHO regional office for Europe, aims at discussing several areas of work under the Protocol on Water and Health and covers different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to water, sanitation, hygiene and health. The first webinar discussed the new Protocol publication “Costing and financing of small-scale water supply and sanitation services” which aims at guiding policymakers responsible for water and sanitation in defining strategies for sustainable financing. The second webinar discussed how Protocol tools such as the equitable access scorecard can support governments during COVID-19 recovery by helping them to further integrate equity in WASH policies and technical interventions. The series will continue in autumn and discuss issues such as hygiene, wastewater surveillance.
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Health and environment are closely interlinked: what can we learn from the current COVID crisis?
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The current corona virus pandemic has touched the lives of almost everyone on the planet. Undoubtedly, we need to take time and draw lessons from the present situation to build our resilience and hopefully avoid future crises, or at least mitigate them as much as possible. This pandemic has magnified the link between a healthy environment, including water systems, and human health. The unprecedented scale of the current challenge clearly demonstrates that we need to work together, collaborate more effectively, and remain committed to our goal of healthy people on a healthy planet. The National Policy Dialogues provide such platform and collaboration space on water, environment and health issues. For more information, please click here.
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Other projects and activities |
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- On July 9, UNECE Executive Secretary Ms. Olga Algayerova, joined the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and other high-level participants to launch at the High-Level Political Forum special event for the launch of SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework. Many commitments were made to fast-track progress towards meeting SDG 6 by 2030. For more information, please click here.
- On 27 May 2020 the UNECE co-organized with UNESCO, in coordination with UNDCO for Europe and Central Asia, and with the participation of IBC members a webinar on the 2020 UN World Water Development Report “Water and Climate Change” for Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams of Europe and Central Asia. UNECE contributed with providing regional perspectives on interlinkages between water, climate change and transboundary cooperation as well as lessons learnt and recommendations for Europe and Central Asia.
- In June 2020 the Words into Action Implementation Guide for Addressing Water-Related Disasters and Transboundary Cooperation developed by UNDRR and UNECE in support of the implementation of the Sendai Framework became available in French.
- In May and June 2020, a number of discussions on the Strategic Action Program for the Chu-Talas basin as well as the 27th session of the Chu-Talas Commission were organized where the Water Convention contributed from the perspective transboundary cooperation in climate change adaptation.
- On 26 June a summary of the inventory of 31 tailings management facilities (TMFs) containing over 160 million tons of waste of hazard class II-IV in the transboundary Dniester basin was published. Both the Water and Industrial Accidents Conventions provided inputs for this assessment.
- UNECE launched a photography contest under the title: "Humans locked down, nature unlocked: a global photo contest on flora and fauna in the time of COVID-19 in support of the restoration of ecosystems", on the occasion of World Environment Day. For more information, please click here.
- UNECE Executive Secretary Ms. Olga Algayerova, signed together with several other world’s leaders a Call to Action on WASH and Covid-19 launched by Sanitation and Water for All to further prioritize water, sanitation and hygiene in the response to COVID-19.
- On July 15th, UNECE Water Secretariat contributed with an intervention on international water law instruments at the online workshop "Transboundary Hydro-Governance and the MENA Region" funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation organized by University of East Anglia (UEA) and the newly established Water Diplomacy Center of the Jordan University of Science and technology. For more information, please click here.
- The Water Convention increase its social media outreach by launching a Facebook and LinkedIn pages!
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Upcoming meetings and events: |
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Find additional information on the Water Convention's website. |
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