OSCE Centre trains representatives of Water User Associations in southern Kyrgyzstan on legislation
OSH, Kyrgyzstan, 4 May 2011 - A one-day training seminar for Water User Associations (WUAs) staff started today in Osh with support from the OSCE Centre in Bishkek’s Osh field office.
The event is part of a comprehensive training programme organized under an OSCE Centre project to help Water User Associations in southern Kyrgyzstan strengthen their skills. The training curriculum encompasses legislation on the use of water, efficient administrative management, prevention of soil salinization, and irrigation methods to reduce water consumption. The programme and the seminar aims to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of water management in the south of Kyrgyzstan, reducing the risks for conflicts over water.
Eleven representatives of WUAs taking part in the seminar will be trained to mentor 33 fellow WUAs in three southern provinces. Participants will also learn how to identify opportunities and obstacles for conflict resolution and reconciliation and develop individual work plans for their mentoring activities.
“Today, Water User Associations play a key role in providing efficient water delivery services and maintaining complex irrigation systems," said Hugo Karlsson, the Head of the OSCE Field Office in Osh. "This locally driven mechanism for providing farmers and others with irrigation water has a distinct position in Kyrgyzstan’s legal system. The OSCE’s assistance aims to improve the associations’ ability to manage scarce essential water resources and provide efficient service to their members. In the long run, it will contribute to the development of livelihoods and serve as a conflict prevention tool.”
Shaibek Karasartov, Director of the Centre for training, consultation and innovation, which implements the seminar, added:
“One of the benefits of the mentoring method is that end-user WUAs receive information from their peers, rather than from an outside trainer who has mainly theoretical knowledge and may not be fully familiar with the practical challenges WUAs are facing in their day-to-day work.”