¡°Towards Sustainable and Climate-resilient Water Supply and Sanitation Services in Central Asia¡± is a regional conference organized by the World Bank, in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Communal Services of Uzbekistan, in Tashkent on November 13-14, 2019.
The conference is an initiative of the World Bank, with support from the European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, to promote water and energy security at the regional level in Central Asia.
Water supply and sanitation (WSS) services are expected to become increasingly susceptible to the impacts of climate change ¨C impacts that will materialize in the form of more frequent and severe extreme events such as floods and droughts, different rainfall patterns and temperatures, and seasonal shifts.
Climate change could have profound consequences for the Central Asia region, yet significant uncertainties remain. Major infrastructure rehabilitation projects are carried out by governments in the region, with the support of international financial institutions, but climate uncertainty is not yet mainstreamed into sector policy and long-term development planning.
At the conference, water agencies and utilities from the region will share their experiences and knowledge on WSS services that could withstand the impacts of climate change, and they will discuss how to develop policies and build capacities for resilience. Participants will also discuss the main challenges in the WSS sector, including issues such as sector and tariff reform, service gaps in rural areas, and transitioning to a more financially viable sector that can mobilize commercial finance in the long-term.
The conference aims to:
Conference participants include utility directors and managers, national-level sector ministry representatives, regulatory agency representatives, and hydromet agencies from the five Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Other participants include utility associations, key industry professionals, and representatives of development partners in the WSS services sector.
The conference is funded by the Central Asia Water and Energy Program (CAWEP) and the .
