Eurasian River Basin Portal

29.03.2016 Within the framework of the high-level Symposium on the 6th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all", CAREC in cooperation with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Embassy in Tajikistan held a side event on “Capacity building, strengthening regional cooperation and academic exchange in achieving the 6th SDG”.

The event was opened by the Chairman of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Khayrullo Ibodzoda, and deputy head of the US Embassy's mission in Tajikistan, Ms. Leslie Hayden. PEER program laureates and national partners of the Smart Waters project from all Central Asian countries and Afghanistan, as well as representatives from USAID and CAREC actively participated in the side event.

The main purpose of this event was to increase the level of awareness about the experience of CAREC and USAID in the field of IWRM, capacity building, regional cooperation and academic exchange.

The Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) was presented during the event, which aims to ensure the exchange of research experience between scientists from Central Asian countries and the United States. Laureate organizations for the PEER grants in Central Asia, such as SIC ICWC, Institute of Water Problems and Hydropower of the Kyrgyz Republic and others, also attended the event. Further, there was a performance of the “Smart Waters” project, which includes a component on «Capacity Building and Academic Exchange».

This component was based on CAREC’s 15 years experience in capacity building and academic exchange, and includes such major events as the support in obtaining a master's degree on IWRM at the Kazakh-German University (KNU), developing programs on capacity building of water agencies’ employees in Central Asian countries and Afghanistan, which will be based on needs assessment in each of the participating countries.  This experience also includes support for student research on issues related to the water resources management, the promotion of cooperation and experience exchange on capacity building in water sector, as well as the use of modern technologies and tools for capacity building, such as online courses, blogs, advice and others.

One of the main objectives of this event was to find a common ground between these two regional programs, which are aimed at ensuring the communication between science and practice, as well as on the exchange of research experience between the Central Asian countries, the US and Afghan researchers. The ability to use the potential and experience of the two programs, which are different in performance, but similar in objectives, will increase the awareness about program activities among partners and will help in achieving more sustainable research results.

During the discussions, debates and proposals, CAREC handed down a number of ideas and recommendations for further cooperation with the PEER program as part of the Smart Waters project, among which the following ones were highlighted:

1. To use current PEER-studies during the competition of student applications for research. It can help students to gain a great experience from researchers of Central Asian countries, the United States and Afghanistan, while students, on their part, can help PEER researchers to conduct their studies. This will improve communication and promote cooperation between researchers of Central Asian and other countries.

2. To provide pilot territories for holding PEER research. This will help the project to receive full research studies, the results of which can be used for further local decision-making. It will also allow the PEER researchers to receive a comprehensive support in conducting field research and the necessary research information.

At the end of side event, the participants expressed their gratitude to the organizers and noted that the event became a confident "first step" towards building lasting cooperation between researchers and «practitioners» in the field of water resources management in Central Asia and Afghanistan.