Regional workshop on SDG indicator 6.5.2 for the Pan-European region

The Regional Workshop on reporting on SDG indicator 6.5.2 for the pan-European region was held on Monday 21 October 2019. It took place back to back with the fourteenth meeting of the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management (WGIWRM) under the Water Convention (22-24 October).

In view of next the reporting cycle, taking place in 2020, SDG indicator 6.5.2 pan-European regional workshop was organized as part of a series of thematic consultations and sub-regional workshops, in view of building capacity in monitoring progress and reporting on SDG 6.5.2, within the framework of UN-Water Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6 and as activities recommended by the Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO and the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention.

The dense network of transboundary watercourses and groundwaters in the pan-European region was the object of the highest rate of responses worldwide in the first reporting exercise. Of the 50 countries in the region that share transboundary rivers, lakes and aquifers, responses were received from 44 of these countries, and an overall indicator 6.5.2 value average of 79.6 % is available for 29 countries. High levels of operational arrangements throughout Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia reflect a long tradition of cooperation across the region, however only 14 countries in the region have all their transboundary basins covered by operational arrangements, and transboundary rivers, lakes and aquifers remain not covered by an agreement or a basin-wide agreement.

The focus of this workshop was on improving capacities from countries in the European, Caucasus and Central Asian regions to collect, report and make use of data on SDG indicator 6.5.2 measuring transboundary cooperation and under the Water Convention. In this effort, a strong focus is to improve coordination and harmonization in reporting among countries sharing transboundary aquifers, rivers and lakes.

Taking into account the results of the first reporting exercise in the region and in view of preparing the second reporting exercise, the main objectives of the workshop were to build capacity on good practices and lessons learned from the reporting process, introduce focal points to the new developed materials, reflect on the use of the results of the first reporting exercise  and build capacity on harmonization of riparian countries in the reporting process to ultimately increase the rate of responses and improve the quality of reports in the next reporting cycle.

Further information on reporting on SDG indicator 6.5.2 and under the Water Convention is available at http://www.unece.org/water/transboundary_water_cooperation_reporting.html