Azerbaijan, Baku, May 8 / Trend V. Zhavoronkova /
Representatives of the five Central Asian states approved of the first comprehensive plan for cooperation in the field of water quality at a meeting in Almaty, the UN Economic Commission for Europe said on Tuesday.
A plan, entitled "Development of regional cooperation on ensuring water quality in Central Asia" has been developed under the project "Water quality in Central Asia", which is implemented by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia.
The plan provides for three strategic areas of work, including information exchange and harmonization of national policies on water quality, co-operation on water quality monitoring and data sharing, as well as the establishment of a regional body of experts on the subject.
Plan for future cooperation has been approved by 12 agencies of five states of Central Asia. Discussion and approval of it by regional organizations on cooperation is planned as the next step. Representatives of the States have agreed to continue the work of the Regional Working Group on Water Quality after project completion.
Other achievements include a demonstration coordinated project of water quality monitoring, including the exchange of information among participating countries and the training of experts on key issues of water quality management. Under the project, laboratories in the Central Asian countries receive the necessary equipment that will improve the water quality monitoring.