Climate-sensitive water resource management in Central Asia 2023 – 2026

The countries of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – are connected by shared water resources, primarily the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. The majority of the population in this region is directly or indirectly dependent on irrigated agriculture. Together, these countries face the challenges of limited water resources, increasing water demand due to population growth and developing economies, as well as competition and the increased risk of water conflicts.

The project supports the implementation of the BMZ-funded regional programme “Climate-sensitive water resource management in Central Asia”, which promotes the application of climate-sensitive and gender-sensitive IWRM in five Central Asian countries.

Background and goals

Like many other regions of the world, Central Asia is looking for ways to optimise the use of limited water resources and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is seen as a means to achieve this goal.

An important role in the application and implementation of IWRM principles is played by national river basin organisations, which are responsible for the management and distribution of water resources at the local river basin level. However, these organisations generally lack not only the human and institutional capacities, but also the cross-sectoral expertise to implement climate-sensitive and gender-sensitive IWRM.

In cooperation with five Central Asian universities, the project is developing a regionally coordinated training concept with teaching materials on practice-oriented climate-sensitive and gender-sensitive IWRM, which will then be made available to a wider audience in relevant national river basin organisations through selected and trained focal points. Furthermore, the project will expand the capacities of Central Asian universities in the areas of water management, methodology and pedagogy.

Sub-objectives

• Development of training concepts and teaching materials for climate-sensitive, practice-orientated and gender-sensitive IWRM;
• Expansion of the capacities of Central Asian universities in the areas of water management, methodology and education;
• Training of selected representatives of national river basin organisations as focal points.

Methodological approach

• Situation analysis and needs assessment
• Development of a handbook on climate-friendly integrated water resources management (IWRM) in Central Asia
• Design of a certification course for water managers of river basin organisations

Expected results

• Study on the status of training and technical equipment with the aim of understanding and applying climate-sensitive, practice-orientated and gender-sensitive IWRM
• Development of a certification course for focal points of national river basin organisations and prototypical implementation of the training course with selected focal points
• Compilation of a handbook for water managers IWRM in Central Asia under climate change

The training of the focal points in the individual river basin organisations is intended to ensure the future dissemination of the teaching materials and the exchange of knowledge. Furthermore, the training materials will be made available and disseminated on existing digital platforms (such as CAREC’s Eurasian River Basin Portal ) that are freely accessible to all employees of the river basin organisations.