3rd Steering Committee meeting of EUWI National Policy Dialogue in Georgia (Tbilisi - date and venue TBC)

The NPD on IWRM started in Georgia in September 2010 with meetings of the UNECE Water Convention secretariat with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources and other stakeholders. The Memorandum of Understanding on the NPD implementation was signed by the Ministry of Environment Protection and UNECE in October 2011. 

The NPD on IWRM in Georgia focuses on three major topics: preparation of a National Water Law based on IWRM principles and the EU WFD; setting targets for the implementation of  the  Protocol on Water and Health; and transboundary activities,  including cooperation with neighbouring Azerbaijan and accession to the Water Convention. A report with an overview of ongoing activities in the water sector in Georgia was finalized  in June 2011. This report serves as a tool for planning future NPD activities. The first Steering Committee meeting (June 2012), which was followed by a Stakeholders Workshop, focused on the new water legislation inspired by the EU WFD, given the EU-Georgia Association Agreement currently under development. In addition to support from the EC , the NPD on IWRM in Georgia is supported by the Government of Finland. 

OECD activities under the NPD are dedicated to broadening the discussions and to covering the financing of water resources  management or some aspects thereof. Work in 2012 has started by discussing the possible scope of the dialogue in more detail and developing the analytical work to support the process. In this perspective, the work done to promote the use of economic analysis in water management in the Kura River Basin countries has contributed to the ongoing discussions in Georgia.