The fifteenth meeting of the Working Group on Monitoring and Assessment under the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) took place in Salle XI at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The meeting started at 9.30 a.m. and ended at 5.30 p.m. on Friday, 6 December 2019. It was held back-to-back with the Global workshop on exchange of data and information in transboundary basins (Geneva, 4 and 5 December 2019).
The main objectives of the fifteenth meeting were be to discuss:
- The implementation of activities on monitoring and assessment under the Convention in 2019–2021, notably regional events; the gathering of feedback on the guidelines on monitoring and assessment of transboundary waters through reviews and experiences from projects, with a view to their updating; and activities on the ground;
- Strategic directions for future work on monitoring, assessment and data exchange under the Water Convention, building on the insights, first, from a background paper entitled “Outlook for developing monitoring cooperation and exchange of data and information across borders”, second, from the reporting under the Convention and on Sustainable Development Goal indicator 6.5.2 and, third, from the Global workshop on exchange of data and information in transboundary basins (Geneva, 4 and 5 December 2019).
In addition, the Working Group discussed information and data needs for sustainable water allocation in transboundary river basins and aquifers to support developing these aspects of the handbook on water allocation in transboundary basins currently under development with guidance from the Expert Group on water allocation.
The following documents were made available before the meeting: