CONSOLIDATING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITIES FOR NATIONAL SURFACE WATER QUALITY MONITORING IN THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC (KGZ III)

KGZ-Water III Project is financed by the Institutional Cooperation Instrument (ICI) of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. This financing instrument is used to support Finnish government agencies' and public bodies' participation in development cooperation. The projects' objective is to strengthen the skills and knowledge of state actors, such as ministries and government agencies, in developing countries.

The project partners are the Ministry of Nature Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision of the Kyrgyz Republic (MNRETS) and the Hydrometeorological Service (KyrgyzHydromet) under  the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke).

The project goals

The project aims to enhance the capacities of the responsible Kyrgyz authorities  - the Ministry of Nature Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision of the Kyrgyz Republic (MNRETS) and the Hydrometeorological Service under the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzhydromet) in their efforts to enhance Kyrgyzstan’s progress in the SDG target 6.3 (improve water quality, waste water and safe reuse), and the target 6.3.2 (proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality) in particular.

The project will focus on enhancing information basis, information management, and use of information, which together form the basis for effective integrated water resources management (IWRM). Regular monitoring of carefully selected water quality parameters, access to reliable and well managed data, and frequent assessments of the status of waters in major water bodies are all important services that the mandated governmental entities MNRETS and Kyrgyzhydromet should be able to provide both at national and sub-national levels (in oblasts and river basins) to various stakeholders and the people.

In the long run, the project is expected to have an impact on the capacities of Kyrgyz authorities to apply regular monitoring, reliable data and assessments on quality of surface waters as basis for Integrated Water Resources Management.

THE FOUR KEY OUTPUTS OF THE PROJECT

OUTPUT 1:  Improved capacities of MNRETS and Kyrgyzhydromet to implement the joint water quality monitoring programme and to update it

OUTPUT 2.  Improved surface water quality monitoring capacities of the laboratories of MNRETS and Kyrgyzhydromet which broadens their service provision and financial sustainability

OUTPUT 3: Improved access to surface water quality data for government units and stakeholders.

OUTPUT 4. MNRETS and Kyrgyzhydromet provide information on surface water quality to stakeholders and the public

Cross-cutting objectives

Finland has four cross-cutting objectives in its Development Policy, which are taken into account and implemented in all project activities:

-  (1) Gender equality: The project team consists of both male and female experts.  MNRETS and KyrgyzHydromet have encouraged to appoint female experts to participate in the project implementation.

- (2) Non-discrimination: All the project team members are given equal opportunities to participate.

- (3) Climate resilience: Water is the primary medium through which we suffer from the impacts of climate change. The project promotes the implementation of Integrated Water Research Management (IWRM) principles in water management in Kyrgyzstan that play a crucial role in how the world can adapt to climate change and reduce its effects.

- (4) Low emission development: The lessons learnt from virtual workshops (due to COVID-19) are applied in the project when possible