The purpose of the workshop was to bring together all relevant stakeholders to deliberate on the policy briefs on Upper Lower Riparian Issues and Options in Pakistan, prepared by IUCN. The four policy briefs included (i) Indus Water Treaty and Managing Shared Water Resources for the Benefit of Basin States, (ii) Beyond Indus Water Treaty: Groundwater and Environmental Management, (iii) Towards Kabul Water Treaty: Managing Shared Water Resources, and (iv) Pakistan Water Apportionment Accord for Resolving Inter-provincial Water Conflicts.

Experts and representatives from the relevant government departments, farmer communities, academia, NGOs, international organisations and donors participated in this workshop and appreciated the role of IUCN to undertake this initiative. They recommended that an authentic database needs to be developed and made public in order to build confidence and trust amongst the stakeholders, and to take right decisions. The participants emphasised the need to undertake more research, especially on eastern and western waters in the backdrop of climate change, and to create a neutral forum to undertake comprehensive dialogue on these issues and make appropriate recommendations to the policy makers. In this regard, IUCN was asked to play its neutral convening role and take this agenda forward.

Based on these two-days deliberations, IUCN will finalise the policy briefs and present to the policy makers for their consideration. IUCN has also committed to revive the Pakistan Water Gateway as a virtual meeting place and web portal for sustainable management of water in Pakistan.



For Further Details Contact:

Hamid Sarfraz
Programme Coordinator
IUCN Pakistan
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
Islamabad Program Office,
House No. 21 Street No. 88, G-6/3
Islamabad
Phone: +92 51 2271027 - 34      
Fax:     +92 51 2271 017
Hamid.sarfraz@iucn.org

About IUCN: IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,100 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world.

IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. In Pakistan, operational since 1985, IUCN constitutes the largest country programme with 29 member organizations. It has helped the Pakistani government and the society to carry forward agenda for conservation of natural resources, ecological stewardship and sustainable development. www.iucn.org