Address to the Global Water Partnership (GWP)'s Consulting Partners Meeting 2009, on the subject of Transboundary Water Management in Southeastern Europe

1. Workshop on Goal 2: Addressing Critical Development Challenges 15 August 2009, GWP CP 2009 Transboundary Water Resources Management: Experiences in Southeastern Europe Joint Presentation by GWP-MED and GWP-CEE

2. Southeastern Europe

6. - Since 2005, GWP-Med has systematically developed multi-level action on TWRM in SEE in the framework of the Petersburg Phase II / Athens Declaration Process (Germany, Greece, WB, GEF, UNECE, UNDP, UNESCO) . - Priority areas of activities include : IWRM planning; shared groundwater management; multi-purpose management; water governance and civil society engagement; linkages to / promotion of the EU WFD. - Since it launching, the Process has engaged more than 150 partners and has materialized * 8 multi-stakeholder International Roundtables on different aspects * more than 10 Capacity Building Workshops with targeted audiences , * has produced more than 15 general and targeted assessments and capacity building materials . - Among current priority issues is the promotion of cooperation for the joint management of the Drin River Basin – an important and complex system . GWP-Med activities on TWRM in SEE

8. Stakeholders Transboundary Cooperation for Integrated Management of Mesta/Nestos Basin: A joint GWP-Med and GWP-Bulgaria project Bulgaria and Greece are taking measures to reach coordinated management of the Mesta / Nestos river basin on the basis of the relevant prerequisites of the EU WFD, the existing bilateral agreement and the international legal framework and practices. However, stakeholders involvement has been limited. A joint GWP-Med and GWP-Bulgaria project, supported by SDC, supported stakeholders engagement in an integrated approach and responding to the provisions of the EU WFD.

9. GWP CEE’s active role in the Danube River Basin - shared by 14 countries