PROJECT FACTS

Domain: Water Management and Disaster Risk Reduction

BACKGROUND

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the well-established network of information exchange on water, economy and environment in Central Asia also collapsed. Considerable knowledge has been lost due to the abscondence of many experts who had worked in the system.

Although Central Asian states have quite rapidly developed regional structures such as the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) and the respective Basin Water Organizations (BWOs) as well as corresponding national institutions, the inadequate provision and circulation of information about the use of water and associated land and natural resources in the Aral Sea Basin has been an obstacle for making appropriate short and long term decisions on trans-boundary water resource management and on implementation of relevant policies.

As a consequence, regional, bilateral and national agreements, policies and interventions  have often not been based on accurate data or sound analysis of the situation. Besides, sectoral and compartmentalized approaches to water use and management have hampered the development of integrated and sustainable solutions.

Despite the overall deterioration of the base for producing water-related data, various national and regional organisations continue to accumulate and store massive amounts of relevant environmental information.

The production and dissemination of such information has been, in many cases, supported through international and bilateral aid programmes. This has enabled the information producers to make it accessible through modern communication channels such as the Internet, and a considerable amount of environmental information is already available on-line.

Phase I of the CAREWIB project has made an important contribution to the processes of water-related information accumulation and distribution via the web. However, a vast amount of water-related information existing in the region still remains unused and largely unknown.

There are also other information resources apart from CAREWIB that provide a bulk of water-related data, often fragmented, not easily accessible or out of date, which leave substantial potential for improvement. Therefore, The Governments of the Central Asian states agree that their activities should be enhanced and strengthened in two key areas: (a) information exchange on all aspects of the Aral Sea Basin Programme, including improved access to economic, environmental, social and other relevant databases; and (b) international and regional advocacy, specifically the propagation and promotion of information about the Aral Sea Basin in general and about water conservation and water management in particular.
 

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The implementation of the CAREWIB project has been initiated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia. The project is financed by SDC with in-kind contributions of SIC ICWC GRID-Arendal and UNECE. SDC supports and feeds into the main themes (exchange/dissemination of data and information, foster cooperation) of the Swiss Regional Cooperation Strategy.

During Phase I of the project, an Internet portal (http://www.cawater-info.net) has been developed and launched to improve sharing and circulation of information in the Central Asian water and environmental sectors to create transparency and increase public awareness regarding the need for the sustainability and rational use of this key natural resource.

The portal is based on existing, but not yet easily accessible information maintained by the Scientific Information Centre (SIC) and other organisations in the region subordinated to the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC). Links are established to any information derived from other on-line resources on water, energy and environment in Central Asia, as well as to relevant policy processes and donor-funded projects. A hard copy newsletter depicting the same information is regularly produced and distributed to increase outreach towards policy makers, NGOs and the general public.

Apart from the internet portal, during the implementation of Phase I, the project has made functional the regional Information System that can now provide decision makers, stakeholders and the broader public with timely, regular, relevant and reliable information, including data on water management and resources, and related information including statistical, hydropower and environmental information. The project has established a network for collecting water-related information from the sources at regional, national and provincial levels. The personnel responsible for provision of this information representing different levels of water-management organizations have been trained as well. 

Within Phase II, the project is planning to enhance the scope and scale of the CAREWIB portal and Information System introducing more advanced methods of data collection and retrieval as well as promoting the database maintenance at national level. The main focus of Phase II will be the establishment of frameworks for and facilitation of National Information Systems development in the five Central Asian states. It is expected that the NIS analogous to that of the regional IS will extend data collection further down the water hierarchy and effectively interact with the regional network center. 

OUTLOOK

By 2010 the project expects to achieve the following results:

• Enhance the scope and scale of the CAREWIB portal and information system introducing more advanced methods of data collection and retrieval;
• Frameworks for National Information Systems are developed and introduced at national level, and effective interaction between the national and regional IS is maintained;
• Regular and sustainable exchange of information is in place between principal holders of relevant information and CAREWIB;
• A series of information products including hard copy and digital publications targeting specific user groups (policy and decision makers, interested parties, the general public and young people) are prepared and distributed in Central Asian countries;
• Capacity building in water management organizations and among other users is increased;
•  Role of information provided by CAREWIB into policy/decision-making processes of national, regional and international institutions and in the public debate is enhanced;
• Long-term political and financial support to the CAREWIB project is ensured.