The Expert Meeting on Monitoring, Assessment and Data Exchange in the framework of the Water Convention was held in Geneva and online on 13 and 14 April 2022.
The meeting consisted of an afternoon session on 13 April from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and two sessions on 14 April: morning session from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and an afternoon session from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (CET).
Objectives:
Joint monitoring and assessment of transboundary waters and information exchange had been among the key obligations of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention).
The programme of work for 2022-2024 under the Water Convention, Programme area 2: Supporting monitoring, assessment and information sharing in transboundary basins, aims to support countries in initiating or further developing joint or coordinated monitoring and assessment of transboundary surface waters and groundwaters, covering both water quantity and quality aspects, and improving exchange of information and data between riparian countries. Among other activities, the programme of work for 2022-2024 envisaged:
- Updating the publication Strategies for Monitoring and Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters (2006) as a global edition;
- Preparing a new publication Good practices and lessons learned in transboundary data exchange.
The objectives of the Expert Meeting were to:
(i) Review and provide comments to the first draft of the updated Strategies for Monitoring and Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters;
(ii) Discuss and provide input to the extended outline of the new publication on Good practices and lessons learned in transboundary data exchange and receive feedback from partners on how to collect specific examples;
(iii) Discuss next steps to develop these two publications.
Participation:
The meeting targeted, firstly, nominated experts experienced in matters related to monitoring and assessment and focal points of the Water Convention, and, secondly, organizations interested in cooperating on these topics and willing to contribute to the preparation of two publications in question.
The working languages for the meeting will be English, French, Russian and Spanish.