OSCE Programme Office in Astana and Kazakh-German University promote water governance in Central Asia

An OSCE-supported Summer School on Integrated Water Resources Management concluded on 26 June 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with a roundtable discussion on this topic involving experts, researches and representatives of international organizations from the region and beyond.

The two-week event was organized by the Kazakh-German University in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Astana for the third year in a row. It brought together 25 junior university lecturers, researchers and students from Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan with the aim to deepen the knowledge of young environmental leaders in the field of water governance and to promote sustainability practices in the region.

Various training events included theoretical lectures, presentations of best practices and practical exercises on managing water and land resources. To this end, the Programme Office presented the OSCE’s priorities and activities in the field of water governance and held a practical exercise on the topic of conflict prevention and resolution in the context of transboundary water management. During the exercise the participants identified ways to handle transboundary water disputes by taking into consideration the available international standards and binding legal instruments.

This event aims at enhancing regional co-operation in the water management sector and falls in line with the OSCE Serbian Chairmanship’s priorities and the 2003 decision of the Maastricht Ministerial Council on the OSCE Strategy Document for Economic and Environmental Dimension which underlines the importance of water diplomacy. It also meets the goals of the Year of Water declared in Kazakhstan in 2015.