European Union and Belarus to step up cooperation on water policies

On 5 December 2018, the inaugural meeting of the National Interagency Steering Committee of the EUWI+ will take place in Minsk, Belarus in support of a national dialogue on the water sector policy. The meeting will be organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus.

The participants representing various ministries and entities responsible for water resources management will discuss the role of the EUWI+ for implementing national water sector policy, enhancing transboundary cooperation, advancing river basin management planning and for further development of laboratories and ground and surface water monitoring in Belarus. EUWI+ representatives will provide an overview on the EUWI+ programme, present planned future activities and share experiences on the National Policy Dialogues on Integrated Water Resources Management as the main platforms to advance national water policy reforms. The discussions under the long-term priorities for the water sector will focus on the development and implementation of the River Basin Management Plans, also in the context of finalizing the development of the National Water Strategy until 2030.

Meeting agenda.

Context:

Launched in September 2016 for a duration of four years, the “European Union Water Initiative Plus for the Eastern Partnership” programme supports the Republic of Belarus and 5 other Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) in aligning their legislation with EU policy in the field of water management and in enhancing water resources management with the overall aim to contribute to improved access to and good quality of water for the citizens. It also contributes to the development of river basin management plans and the sustainable use of transboundary water resources by facilitating cooperation at the national and transboundary level and by promoting public participation in river basin management planning. Implementing partners: The project is funded by the European Union and is implemented by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and an EU Consortium comprising the Austrian Environment Agency (Austria) and the International Office for Water (France).

National Policy Dialogues (NPDs) are the main operational instrument under the European Union Water Initiative in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The objective of NPDs is to facilitate the water policy reform in a particular country. The UNECE is the strategic partner for NPDs on IWRM; the OECD is the strategic partner for NPDs on Water Supply and Sanitation and also works on the economic and financial dimension of water policies.