- Report, decisions, documents
- Presentations
- Dniester Treaty signature
- Side events
- IISD Daily web coverage
- Press releases and interviews
- List of participants
Highlights (Основные итоги)
The sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) took place on 28-30 November 2012 in Rome, Italy. The meeting was held back-to-back with the International Roundtable on Transboundary Water Resources Management in the Southern Mediterranean (Rome, 26-27 November 2012).
The Meeting of the Parties to the UNECE Water Convention adopted several decisions and a new programme of work that mark a crucial turning point in the globalization of the Convention. Some 330 participants, representing Parties and non-Parties from the UNECE region and beyond, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations attended the sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties.
A unanimous desire to enable accession to the Convention for all UN Member States
At the sixth session, Parties adopted a decision on simplifying the procedure for the accession of non-UNECE countries to the Convention. Any future request for accession by any member of the United Nations will be considered as approved by the MoP, once the amendments to articles 25 and 26 to the Convention enter into force for all the Parties that adopted them in 2003.
This decision reconfirms the conviction of the Parties that the Convention is an effective instrument beyond the UNECE region, as well as the unanimous desire to enable accession by non-UNECE countries as soon as possible, without distinction from the procedure for UNECE countries. With this decision, it is expected that non-UNECE countries will be able to accede to the Water Convention as of the end of 2013. Countries outside the UNECE region were encouraged to join the Convention by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Establishment of an Implementation Committee
The Implementation Committee for the Convention was established. The Committee will render practical case-tailored assistance to prevent water-related disputes and support Parties in their efforts to implement the Convention. Its nine members were elected by consensus to serve in a personal capacity. They represent a good mix and balance of competences to accomplish the Committee’s tasks and include a number of outstanding lawyers and water management experts.
A new programme of work to further strengthen water cooperation
Parties adopted the new programme of work for 2013-2015. Work on support to implementation and accession, NPDs and adaption to climate change in transboundary basins will remain the cornerstones of the work under the Convention. In addition, in order to answer to today’s challenges, new areas of work were included such as quantifying the benefits of transboundary cooperation, a thematic assessment on the water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus and activities related to the opening of the Water Convention. Two decisions on cooperation with global partners— with GEF and UNESCO— were adopted, which will reinforce the implementation of the Water Convention.
Signature of the Dniester Treaty between the Republic of Moldova and UkraineDuring the meeting, the signing ceremony of the new bilateral Treaty between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Cooperation in the Field of Protection and Sustainable Development of the Dniester River Basin took place.