1. UNDP-ENVSEC Project Fostering a Dialogue between Riparian States for Development and Establishment of Initial Legal and Institutional Frameworks for Increased Cooperation and Joint Management in the Kura-Aras River Basin Moving From Informal to Formal Cooperation in the Kura/Aras Basin Prepared for Joint UNECE, UNDP and OSCE workshop on River basin Organizations, Water Governance and Regional Networking 23-26 October 2007 Almaty, Kazakhstan

2. Kura-Aras river basin description Historical developments with respect to transboundary cooperation International projects promoting transboundary Cooperation ENVSEC project approach to moving from informal to formal cooperation in the K-A basin Introduction

3. Armenia Azerbaijan Islamic Republic of Iran Georgia Kura-Aaras River Basin Turkey

4. Kura-Aras River Basin Description Kura-Aras basin covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey Population – about 12 mln Area – about 188 000 km 2 Kura-Aras River System is a principle source of water for economies, ecology and social life in the basin Priority transboundary problems as identified in TDA: Water pollution Variation and reduction in hydrological flow Ecosystems degradation Flooding and bank erosions Kura river affects the Caspian Sea ecosystem

5. Existing environmental/water agreements and recent developments Soviet time agreements between Armenia-Iran (1957) and Azrebaijan- Iran on joint use of Aras river for irrigation, hydro power and domestic use; Bilateral agreements between Georgia-Armenia (1998), Georgia- Azerbaijan (1998) Ministries on cooperation in environmental field; MoU between Georgian and Azerbaijan Environmental Ministries (2007) on cooperation included establishment of a working group on exchanging information and joint monitoring of transboundary waters European Neighborhood Policy Action Plans (2006): Riparian states are committed ”to identify possibilities with neighboring countries for enhanced regional co-operation, in particular with regard to water issues” Individual Partnership Action Plans with NATO: the countries have committed to participate with their neighbors in the Science for Peace project on Environmental Impact of Pollutants in a Trans-Boundary Context objective of conducting an assessment of trans-boundary impact on environmental pollution in a regional context

6. 2000-2004. USAID. Water Management in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) 2001-up. REC Caucasus Water Program (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) 2002-2003. EU/TACIS. Joint River Management Programme on Monitoring and Assessment of Water Quality on Transboundary Rivers (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) 2002-2008. OSCE-NATO. Science for Peace Program - South Caucasus River Monitoring (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) 2003-2005. UND-SIDA. Reducing Transboundary Degradation in the Kura-Aras Basin (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) 2004-2008. USAID. South Caucasus Water Program (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) 2003-2006. German Govt. Trans-boundary cooperation for hazard prevention in the Kura-river basin. 2005-2007. UNDP-GEF. Reducing Transboundary Degradation in the Kura-Aras Basin. PDF B Phase (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran) Upcoming (2007-2009). EU/TACIS. Support to the Trans-boundary Management of the Kura River Basin. (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) Internationally Funded Projects on Regional Cooperation

7. UNDP- ENVSEC Project on Development and Establishment of Institutional and legal Frameworks for Transboundary Cooperation (2007-2008) Development of short-term and long-term options for legal and institutional frameworks Regional meeting in Tbilisi to discuss the options Development of most appropriate short-term option for legal and Institutional frameworks Meeting in Geneva to discuss and agree short term option for legal and Institutional frameworks Submission of final documents to countries for signing Signing Kura-Aras Environmental Declaration

8. UN Kura-Aras Environmental Programme UNEP UNDP World Bank Countries EU Bi-laterals ENVSEC

9. Potential developments after ENVSEC project completion Kura-Aras Task Force is established (2008) Kura-Aras GEF project PIU supports the Task Force (2008) Kura-Aras environmental program starts (2008) Kura-Aras Convention is developed and signed (??? Year) Kura-Aras Commission is established