Background
This was the 10th meeting of the Steering Committee of the National Policy Dialogue on Integrated Water Resources Management in Georgia. NPD facilitates policy discussions where stakeholders meet to advance water policy reforms. NPDs are driven by the demand from the host countries and are usually chaired by heads of respective government agencies. A variety of stakeholders participate in the meetings, such as ministries and government agencies and institutions, as well as non-governmental organisations, the business community, parliamentary bodies, academia. Participants typically include international organisations and EU Member States active in water policy reforms in each country. Under the EU-funded EU4Environment Water Resources and Environmental Data Programme, NPDs are supported in the five countries of the Eastern Partnership and facilitated by UNECE and OECD.
Meeting objectives, expected outputs and outcomes:
- To provide an update on recent developments in the water sector and other water-using sectors.
- To provide an update on the implementation of the road map of the EU water-related directives and the Water Convention in Georgia under the Association Agreement with the European Union.
- To discuss challenges in the integrated water resources management, solutions and next steps to address them.
- To discuss progress and next steps in implementing the EU4Environment – Water and Data programme in Georgia and to receive feedback from the national stakeholders.
- To provide a platform for discussion of donor activities in the water sector in Georgia and to enhance the international cooperation with partner organisations.
Participants
The meeting gathered over 70 participants from ministries, agencies, donors and international projects with an interest in water management in Georgia.