Water policy reforms in Turkmenistan

• Convergence of national water management legislation and processes with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), including the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and river basin management.
• The review of existing national legislation and the development of a new National Water Code.

The kick-off meeting for the national policy dialogue (NPD) on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Turkmenistan was held in December 2010, followed by the first Steering Committee meeting in April 2011. As part of the NPD on IWRM, an interministerial expert group was established to review the national legislation of Turkmenistan in the light of the adoption of the standards of the Water Convention, including the IWRM principles enshrined in the Convention. The group developed a detailed analysis of the national legislation and concluded that the Water Convention corresponds to the interests of Turkmenistan. In August 2012 Turkmenistan acceded to the Water Convention. 

Summary of main areas of work and achievements

Since the launch of the NPD, the following meetings and missions have been taking place to assist Kazakhstan in the NPD process:

• A national workshop on IWRM was organised in November 2011 to familiarise the participants with IWRM implementation in the EU and in other countries of the Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) subregion, as well as to discuss the tools and opportunities for application of IWRM principles in Turkmenistan. 
• From February 2012, UNECE organised two missions to Turkmenistan where consultations were held with different ministries and agencies to facilitate the implementation of the policy recommendations. This work culminated in the decision of the Parliament of Turkmenistan on 4 August 2012 on the country’s accession to the Water Convention. 
• The third Steering Committee meeting was held on 5 April 2013. Stakeholders took note of the work of the inter-ministerial expert group on the draft new Water Code. The Steering Committee approved preliminary results achieved by expert group.
• The second Steering Committe meeting was held on 27 September 2012. It recognised the efficiency of the NPD inter-ministerial expert group and decided to continue its activities. The NPD inter-ministerial expert group was entrusted to work on the revision of the national legislation. Several capacity building activities were envisaged, including the development of a training module on IWRM for Turkmen officials. It was decided that awareness on the UNECE Espoo Convention and Industrial Accidents Convention should be promoted.