Sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the UNECE Water Convention

The sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) will be a key event in the evolution of the Water Convention into a global multilateral legal framework for transboundary water cooperation. 
Over the past 20 years, the Water Convention has provided an important legal framework, which has driven significant improvement in transboundary water management in the UNECE region. 
A wide variety of topics that have been the focus of work under the Convention in the past three years will be discussed, including implementation of the Convention, monitoring and assessment of transboundary waters, climate change adaptation in a transboundary context, National Policy Dialogues under the European Union Water Initiative, water and ecosystems and capacity-building. The meeting will review progress achieved in the Convention’s implementation and adopt a new programme of work for 2013-2015, taking account of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. 
The new programme of work will include new areas of work to respond to the evolving needs of transboundary cooperation — such as work on the water-food-energy nexus and on the benefits of cooperation — as well as activities related to the opening and implementation of the Convention outside the UNECE region, including synergies with the 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses and a stronger cooperation with the Global Environment Facility.

The meeting will be held back-to-back with the International Roundtable on Transboundary Water Resources Management in the Southern Mediterranean (Rome, 26-27 November 2012).

Participants should complete the registration form and transmit it by e-mail to the UNECE secretariat (cammile.marcelo@unece.org) as soon as possible but not later than on 1 November 2012.

Some funds are available to support participation of nominated representatives from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, eligible for financial support. Requests for financial support should be submitted together with a formal letter of nomination and respective registration forms to the UNECE secretariat (cammile.marcelo@unece.org) as soon as possible but not later than 10 October 2012.

The meeting will follow a PaperSmart model. Delegates are encouraged to bring their own copies of the documents and laptops

Documents

Practical information

Credentials

Candidates for the Implementation Committee

High-level segment

Side events

Media