1st Session, 21st Meeting of the Working Group on Monitoring and Assessment

Good morning everybody. We are about to start the working group meeting. So I'm please asking you to take your seats. Good morning. Time to start our working group meeting. So good morning. Bonjour tout le monde. Bonjour aux deux collègues. Good morning everyone. Good morning colleagues. Dear colleagues, it's my pleasure to welcome you and open you to the 21st meeting of the working group on monitoring and assessment under the UN Water Convention. My name is Anna Stina Heiskanen. I'm coming from Finland, from the Finnish Environment Institute and I'm also representing Finland in the Bureau of the Water Convention. I'm happy to introduce my colleague for co-chair, Mr. Pagarifatti from Senegal, also the member of the Bureau. And with this we will start our 21st meeting. It was really nice to have these two days prior to our workshop meeting where we had a good opportunity to hear about the new innovations, challenges and opportunities with respect of the new and innovative techniques for monitoring and assessment of transboundary water. There was the global workshop for two days and now today we will hear a short report from the outcomes of the workshop. That was very inspiring and the discussions were really very constructive and encouraging concerning the future of the workshop. So thank you for those of you who were also participating in this workshop. And finally yesterday we had the nice reception in the permanent representation of Finland here in Genie, which was also a good opportunity to build cooperation and friendships among the community of practice. All of us who are working on monitoring and assessment and management of transboundary waters. So the current objectives for our 2018 meeting of the working group are to discuss, first of all, the preparation of the United Nations Water Conference. That will be in the United Arab Emirates in December. And of course in particular the interactive dialogue on water for cooperation. Future work and assessment building on insights from the ongoing, the fourth round of reporting under the Water Convention and the Sustainable Development Code Indicator 652. And what I already mentioned from the global workshop on the use of new technologies and innovation for monitoring, assessment and data sharing in transboundary basing. So that's the second objective. Future work, very important also to think the coming years to come. We will come back to that later. Moreover, the implementation of activities in monitoring, assessment and data sharing under the Convention during this period of work, 2526. And based on the outcomes and discussions from the workshop we had for the last two days, there is an ongoing preparation for the publication on the policy guidance note for conjunctive water management in transboundary basins. Sorry, that is an ad hoc working group working on that. We will hear also the current status of that. I would also like to mention that the current meeting is the last meeting of our working group on monitoring and assessment that is not held jointly with the working group on integrated water resources management. So it is the last hour meeting where we can focus particularly on the topics and future of the working group on monitoring and assessment. So following that, next year there will already be the next meeting of the meeting of the parties. And there the next workroom of work will be decided. So this meeting provides us a good opportunity to informally reflect and gather initial ideas for possible future activities in order to support the monitoring assessment and information sharing in transboundary basins under the framework of the Water Convention. And also for the development of the future work program. So that is very crucial for all of us to think what is needed in the next period from 2018-2028-2030. So in order to facilitate this brainstorming you are invited to share ideas in writing on the flip charts. So please write your ideas for the future program. So please write your ideas for the future program and reflect the future activities more broadly even under the relevant agenda items. Yeah, so maybe- Sure yes, the coming- Okay to speak. So we can discuss our extended burst- distance but no interventions are possible online. And the recordings of the meeting can be assessed on the UN web television after the meeting. All relevant documentation are available on the dedicated page of the Water Convention website that you have probably already explored. And the participant who wish to make a statement, an intervention from the floor, should raise your flag. So please, rising the name plates to request the floor from the chair. And please, you are requested to limit the length of your interventions in maximum on two minutes. Full statements on preparation provided by the Secretariat can be posted on the meeting web page. I'm just noting that the objectives of the working group meeting were already highlighted behind me previously. So let's go on from that. I think they are also well stated in the agenda. and for the background documents of this meeting. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Um... All right. Okay. And with that, I would like to second half. I would like to talk to do the round of updates and starts the meeting, on the team. All rise from this panel, extension,- I felt 19 and 100th president but I felt 19 and 100,000 involved. Lamu Young, today is no financial partners or société. Yes, 13... It is clear on and quarter. is clear on. Mm. Is this clear your question or comment on how to reach the board and the team you have advocate and seeking them, ah? Matt? I think there are some more flexible nuggets, containers, in terms of this meeting. And with us, I would like to invite all the participants of the working group to adopt the agenda. Is there anyone who would like to make any other issues or corrections to the agenda, something that might have been forgotten? I don't see any flags rise for this, so thus I think we can adopt the agenda. Oh, there's one. Yes, please. Central African Republic. Good morning to one and all. I'm Jean-Christophe Robombé. I'm the focal point, the national focal point for the UN Convention, the UN Water Convention, also presiding the interministerial committee on the Convention. I wanted to take the floor on the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi specifically. I'd like to explain the steps that the CR has taken since 2019. The government, the administration, has taken up the responsibility of accession and ratification to the Convention. Naming a focal point, myself in this case, also putting together a steering committee, which guides the whole sector. The idea is to have a platform that allows for us to work on Convention matters, to collect data, and to share that with the partners. Today we have two programs on the table. We will be holding a workshop with the whole sector to analyze the benefits and interests involved with this. In September, we will be organizing this national workshop, again with the state, parliament, and territorial organizations as well, in order to seek some ownership of the Convention. The idea being to transmit to the Council of Ministers our thoughts on it. So for us, we are trying to present this process, which began in 2019, to all the stakeholders. We reiterated our commitment on 10 March 2026 to this process, so that this process can be launched. In September, again, we will be holding this national workshop. This will allow for us at the Abu Dhabi Conference to show up with a legal document from the Council of Ministers that validates the Convention and that has this translate into work in the Parliament. So, the CAR, between now and the end of 2026, we will have been able to accomplish the ratification of the Convention. The UN Water Convention, that is. I thank you kindly. Yes, thank you very much for the intervention. I think you can come back to this under Agenda Item 5, because you are in accession of the Convention. So, that is the agenda point where we can discuss the issues related to accession as well, and what is your status in ratification as well as the plan. So, I am welcoming you there to take care also of the floor under the Agenda Item 5. But, thank you very much. So, now we can, I think with this, we can continue with the adoption of the agenda. Right. Yes. Okay. Thank you very much. We are adopting the agenda. Okay. So, the working group adopted the agenda. Clock. Right. With this, I would like to invite Francesca Bernardini from the Secretariat to provide a short term, of the effects of the UN 80 to the Water Convention Secretariat. Please, Francesca. Thank you very much, Anastina. And good morning, ladies and gentlemen. For those who do not know me, I am Francesca Bernardini. I am head of the section in the UN EC, which includes the Secretary of the Water Convention. And to start, before starting, I would like to warmly thank, I think on behalf of all delegates Finland, for the beautiful reception yesterday. It was a very magical moment. It was a very magical moment. It was not only pleasant, but it was also very useful. I had a lot of very interesting discussion. And you even arranged for the sun. So, congratulations. Thanks a lot, really. Thank you. So, from the Secretariat side, we felt that it was important for delegates to have also a background information on resources. Because, as you know, nothing is possible without money. And therefore, I would like to start, before moving to the UN 80 and the UN discussion, I would like to start by thanking again the EU for the financial support for the workshop. And also to the partner organization, the World Bank and IW Learn, which chip in with some travel support. We had an overwhelming request and interest in the workshop, so it was great to have partners chipping in. So, thanks a lot. But this voluntary contribution alone could never sustain the work under the Convention. So, you might know that part of the Convention relies on the UN regular budget. And, as you also might know, the UN regular budget at the moment is under stress, so to say. The Secretary General last year launched the so-called UN 80 process, so linked to the 80 years of the organization, focusing on several issues, efficiency, and in particular budget cuts. So, last year was a very painful year in terms of all organizations had to propose cuts to their budget. And at the end of the year, the General Assembly approved the reduction of a 15% cut of the whole UN budget. And obviously, UNEC, as part of the UN system, was also affected. And our budget for 2026 has been cut of about 14% compared to the budget we had in 2025. And this corresponds to posts. And 26 posts were abolished in the whole organization. And unfortunately, among those posts, one post in the Water Convention Secretariat was cut. So, the support from the regular budget of the UN to the Water Convention Secretariat decreased from 2.5 to 1.5 posts. Which is a lot. Look, relatively considering how essential but limited is such a regular budget support. And obviously, that post, that position was needed, is needed to support the work under the Convention. So, we are now using voluntary contribution to cover the cost of that post. So, this is the news, the bad news that you read on the newspaper on the state of the UN financing and the UN. An incredible news, and a very positive news in this framework of budget cut was that at the same time, the General Assembly, the committee responsible for its budget, adopted a decision to increase the budget for conference services to support the multilingualism under the Water Convention. So, you might remember that the meeting of the party in October 2024 made an express request to the Secretary General to ensure that all meeting and documentation under the Water Convention are available in six languages, reflecting the global nature of the Convention. And despite the very difficult budget discussion last year, this decision to increase that budget was approved. And many of the countries present here in this room played a key role to make sure that this budgetary increase was adopted. So, really, wholehearted thanks from the Secretariat. And we are leaving today the first Water Convention meeting in which we have the six languages from the UN regular budget. It's a fantastic achievement. Really, thanks a lot for that. Yes, applause. I think it's worth it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. At the same time, I'm sorry, I would have liked to finish on a positive news, but unfortunately, we all know the situation, the financial situation is still very uncertain. And we also already got some indication from the conference service division that their budgetary constraints are such that they are not able to confirm at the moment that all the Voter Convention meeting this year will be able to provide six language interpretation and translation for all of them. So, we're still in a very, very uncertain situation. And this makes the discussion that we had on Monday under the Ad-hoc Working Group on Sustainable Financing even more important. As you know, another very important decision of the meeting of the party in October 2024 was to tackle this issue of sustainability of finance of the Convention. And I must say that under the very, very wise and strategic leadership of Slovenia and Cameroon, this group is making a lot of progress. The discussions are very advanced and the situation is promising. At the same time, we see that not all parties are participating in this discussion. And therefore, I use this opportunity to encourage those parties which are not to please join the group, because this is a key for the future of the Convention. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Francesca, for informing us about the financial situation. And definitely, it was a great achievement that this decision on translation of the languages was obtained last summer. So, big congratulations for the Secretariat and, of course, all the parties that were supporting this to happen. So, this makes even wider globalization and, of course, understanding the discussions and outcomes of the Water Convention even more global. But, at the same time, of course, remembering the problems with the sustainable financing. So, really, as Francesca from the Secretariat was already stating, we really wish that all the members or parties, members of the Convention could join the discussions and the working group on sustainable financing or ad hoc group of the sustainable financing. Because, there, we really need to think how these activities will be financed in the continuation in the future. So, thank you very much for this, Francesca. We will come back to that in the subsequent meetings as well. Okay. With this, I would like to move to agenda item 3, which is the adoption of the report of the previous meeting. So, there is a documentation on the report of the working group on integrated water resources management and the working group on monitoring and assessment of the six joint meeting that was held in Geneva last autumn in October 2025. So, with this, I would like to invite you to adopt this report. And, if there is any objections or anything you would like to remark, please raise your flag. Otherwise, we will proceed with the adoption. So, you see the proposed decision on the background or in the screen behind us. So, with the proposed decision, the working group adopted the report of the working group on integrated water resources management and the working group on monitoring and assessment of their six joint meetings. With no objections, I would like to adopt this report. Decided. So, thank you. Thank you. And, that is available, of course, in the web. So, with this, we move to the next agenda item, which is the recent developments related to monitoring, assessment and data sharing in transboundary basins. And, with this, I would like to invite Lilith Abrahamian from Armenia and Nika Kotashvili from Georgia to inform of the recent memorandum of understanding under Kramer Libet. And, there will be a celebration as a photo will be taken with the country representatives and flags to celebrate. So, please, could you come here to the podium? Okay, great. Please, the floor is yours. Good morning, dear colleagues. So, good morning, colleagues. First of all, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak today. I'd like to start by offering my gratitude to the Secretariat of the UN Water Commission. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you for the assistance facilitating my participation in the two-day seminar, but also in each of the events under the UN Water Convention. I would like this morning to share our recent successful experience of managing and strengthening partnership relations and cooperation with the neighbouring country, Georgia, in monitoring transboundary water resources and participating in a global dialogue on cooperation issues in the area of transboundary water resources. Over the past decades, Armenian and Georgian experts have conducted many consultations and field exercises on assessing and monitoring transboundary water resources in the Krami and Tebed river basins. This has been partly with support from the European Union, the European Union Environmental Protection Agency, and also initiatives and efforts that preceded this in data management. In 2022 and 2023, we received support for joint field measurements for rivers and water bodies. And also assistance to aggregate the results of those surveys. As a result of the many years of work, finally, in 2025, the Armenian Ministerial Centre for Water Monitoring and Measuring and the Correspondence Agency in Georgia signed a memorandum on understanding in the area of partnership and cooperation on the monitoring and the exchange of data in the area. The memorandum was signed as a part of a dialogue on water policy which played a major role in both countries in transboundary water cooperation between our two countries. So this agreement was a major breakthrough in monitoring and monitoring and the monitoring and monitoring of water resources in our two countries. in our two countries and it stipulates standardization of methods for sampling, establishment of monitoring points, the exchange of data between our countries and it's a major step forward in coordinating the efforts to preserve water resources by our two countries in cooperation. Both countries will receive a clearer understanding of the volumes and quality of water resources in the basins of these two rivers. This memorandum is a foundation for permanent and independent dialogue and cooperation. This will allow both countries to take justified, coordinated, decisions in order to ensure sustainable management of water resources in the basin. We expect this memorandum to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and to facilitate boosting our 652 SDG implementation. And in conclusion, I would like to express particular gratitude to the UNEC for facilitation rendered in helping us execute this complex but extremely interesting process as well as technical assistance for experts in our two countries who participated over recent years in this very important project. That concludes my presentation and I thank you for your attention. Thank you, Madame Co-Chair. Dear colleagues, good morning. It's a true pleasure to be here today and to share a significant milestone in our regional cooperation. The signing of memorandum of understanding on transboundary monitoring in Hlamideveder is a result of years of shared efforts, technical consultations, and genuine commitment between Georgia and Republic of Armenia. This achievement would not have been possible without steady support of the EU4 environment, water resources, and environmental data program. I want to express our sincere gratitude to all the partners involved in the consortium, the Environmental Agency of Austria, the Austrian Development Agency, the International Office for Water, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, and the United Nations Economic Commission of Europe for their continuous technical and institutional support. The Hlamideveder River Basin is a vital shared resource for both Georgia and Republic of Armenia, providing water for ecosystems, agriculture, energy, and local communities. By formalizing our cooperation through this MOU, we are creating legal and institutional framework for joint monitoring, data exchange, and reporting on both surface and groundwater resources. The establishment of a dedicated working group will ensure regular collaboration, continuous improvement of monitoring procedures, and the integration of scientific evidence into decision-making process. For Georgia, this cooperation is especially timely as the country is fully implementing the river basin management system in line with EU principles and advancing an ambitious water sector reform aimed at improving governance, ensuring sustainable water use, and enhancing climate resilience. working together with our neighbors not only improves the quality and reliability of shared water data, but also builds trust, reduce risks, support sustainable development, and contributes to long-term stability in the region. The agreement also brings us closer to our global commitments. The agreement directly strengthens our ability to report on SDG indicator 6.5.1 and 6.5.2, which is related to proportion of transponder basin areas with operational arrangement for water cooperation, proving that integrated water resources management is most effective when it crosses borders. In closing, Georgia reaffirms its commitment to evidence-based governance and cross-border partnership. We look forward to the practical work ahead with our Armenian colleagues and international partners to ensure this agreement translates into lasting benefits for both people and nature. I want to thank every expert and colleague who dedicated their time and knowledge to make this memorandum of understanding a reality. Many thanks. Thank you very much for this very encouraging occasion and achievement of your memorandum and your collaboration. It is very encouraging for our community what achievements there can be also for joining for common agreements under the river basins. I was looking at the photos and thanks for showing those as well. It seems that you even had the joint monitoring. Was that correct or were there on some of the sites? Yes, okay. Yeah, that's very good. So that intercalibration and joint monitoring already going on. Fantastic. Should we go for the celebration now or? Taking the photos, please. So, one of the follow-up of this, we will make a small celebration and taking the photos of the country representatives under the flag to celebrate. So, you can all join this moment of achievement together with us. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Here we go. Thank you. See you at the same. See you at the same. You can see here the next next meeting! Thank you all cioè Yeah Ilux. Yeah. Have my got good news when you like Peter Galv induHD? I'm beautiful. Hello, oh my God. I hope you did any me little. You have to take that right? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And next, I would like to invite Landing Bojang from Guinea-Bissau to inform of the developments... Gambia. Gambia. Oh, sorry. Yes. From Gambia. To inform about the developments to supporting transboundary cooperation in this Senegal-Maritainian aquifer basin. Please, Bojang. Thank you, Chair. I have the pleasure on behalf of the regional working group of the Senegal-Maritain and Aquifer Basin to express our sincere appreciation to the Water Convention Secretariat and all the partners for the excellent coordination and support throughout the process of the negotiation of the draft agreement. National workshops were held in all the countries between July and November. And then, regional consolidation workshop was convened in January alongside the preparatory meeting of the next UN Water Conference. And, I have the pleasure to inform this August gathering that an agri-text, consolidated text, is being finalized to be presented to the ministers before the signing ceremony in December. So, it's a pleasure for us to express that the negotiation was done in good faith and then most of the disagreements were handled with the spirit of good faith and cooperation. On this note, I would like to thank Professor Macain of the Implementation Committee of the Water Convention for his dedication and support throughout the process. Thanks so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Microphone to the speaker, please. Okay, is there any other interventions? I see. You Having able to ask that the secret of the Parliament? Thank you. Thank you. historically? Moldova and the Central African Republic. Okay, now I have to make notes. Thank you, Kuché. I have two questions. First of all, I would like to know if before the signature of this MU, there was no institutional or legal framework between the two countries. I'm talking about Georgia and Armenia. The second question is addressed to the colleague of Georgia. What do you mean by proof, scientific proof for cooperation? I didn't understand very well what you mean by that. Thank you. Would you like to answer that right away? Thank you for the questions. I can start answering from the second question. So, for us, scientific proof mostly is connected to the reliable source of information in order to plan a river basin management system and to ensure that our data is correct. Because in our case, a river basin management system, which is our management components, needs reliable sources and information which truly and precisely says concrete information about concrete river, concrete pollution, if there is any, and et cetera. Yes. Regarding the first question, you emphasized previous cooperation. So, our countries are cooperating within different formats. So, before this official memorandum of understanding, our format was within the different programs and projects. And our cooperation was within the platforms and framework of international partnership. Yes. Thanks. Thank you very much for the clarification of the collaboration on scientific basis. For that, very good indeed. I'm sure you can discuss also during the break if there is further information needed for the Cameroon. I think the next, in asking for the floor, was Ukraine, please. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, I want to briefly report the latest incident that took place in Transbonder-Rodnister river basin. Russia for scale war against Ukraine is not only military aggression. It's a direct and serious threat to water security and the entire region in violation of basic human rights to clean water. On the 7th of March, 2026, Russian launched another massive missiles and drone attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Just three days later, on the 10th of March, oil-like spots with characteristic rainbow sheen appeared on the transbondary section of Dnister river between Ukraine and Moldova. The nature and dynamics of this pollution were unusual and alarming. Ukrainian State Emergency Service immediately deployed 10 lines of floating booms, including on the shared section with Moldova, to prevent the pollution from spreading further downstream. Under the Dnister agreement, we promptly informed our Moldovan colleagues. Following the emergency meeting on the Dnister commission, Ukraine and Moldova conducted joint water sampling. Laboratory analysis of both countries produced identical results. Petroleum products were detected and barium concentration exceeded environmental safety standards by up to six times. Barium had never been recorded in Dnister before. At the same time, pollution was also registered in the lower reaches of the river in Odessa region, where debris from a Russian drone fell directly near the drinking water intake of Odessa, a city with one million residents. As a country at war, Ukraine continues to address these unprecedented environmental challenges lodging on its own. Even though, their consequences immediately become transbondary. Unfortunately, our water monitoring laboratories do not always have the capacity to rapidly identify all pollutants that enter water bodies as a result of military action. We are sincerely grateful to Jeff, UNDP, OSCE, Dnister project, and the Water Convention Secretariat for their constant support, including the possibility to analyze samples in European laboratories. This cooperation saves time and protects people's lives. Ukraine remains fully committed to the principle of water convention and will continue active work with the Dnister commission. We count on the continuous support of the projects and all partners to strengthen monitoring modernizing laboratories and protecting transbondary river Basin from the consequences of war. Clean water knows no water and peace remains the best environment policy. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much for the information. And next, requesting the floor is Moldova. Chair, distinguished delegates, I appreciate the opportunity to address this meeting and to share recent developments concerning the Dnister river Basin, a transboundary water course of strategic importance for both the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. In March 2026, our region faced a serious environmental emergency following the military attack carried out by the Russian Federation against the Novotnistrovsk hydropower complex in Ukraine. As a result of damage caused to technical infrastructure, significant quantities of petroleum products were discharged into the Dnister river, creating immediate risks for water quality, aquatic ecosystems, and drinking water supply systems downstream. From the very first days of the crisis, cooperation between the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine was close, constructive and continuous. On 12th of March, an urgent meeting of the Dnister commission was convened in online format, where both sides exchanged information, assessed the scale of pollution, and agreed on coordinated response measures aimed at containing and mitigating the contamination. This cooperation continued through bilateral institutional contacts and direct communication channels, allowing both countries to react in a timely and responsive manner. The exchange of information proved essential for protecting downstream communities and ensuring evidence-based decisions during a rapidly evolving emergency. At national level, the Republic of Moldova mobilized all competent institutions, including environmental authorities, water management agencies, and emergency services. Continuous water sampling was conducted at multiple monitoring points, while intervention teams worked to prevent polluted masses from reaching major drinking water intakes. On 13th of March, the Republic of Moldova requested the activation of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, through which valuable support was received from several international partners. We express our deepest appreciation to Romania, which reacted promptly and provided immediate operational assistance, technical expertise, and on-site support that helped considerably in mitigating the effects of the crisis. We also extend our sincere gratitude to Poland, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany, for the equipment generously provided through donations. This contribution significantly strengthened the effective management of the crisis and will continue to enhance our preparedness and capacity to prevent and respond to similar emergencies in the future. As a result of this coordinated efforts, nationally, bilaterally with Ukraine, and internationally, we managed to substantially reduce immediate risks and protect key water supply infrastructure. At present, monitoring data indicate gradual improvement of water quality conditions. Nevertheless, continued ecological assessment remains necessary to determine possible medium and long-term impacts on aquatic ecosystems. This incident clearly demonstrated that transboundary waters require not only long-term cooperation frameworks, but also rapid communication systems, mutual trust, and operational solidarity in times of crisis. The Republic of Moldova remains firmly committed to strengthening cooperation with Ukraine under the Water Convention and within the framework of the Dniester Commission, including in the areas of joint monitoring, early warning systems, emergency preparedness, and sustainable river basin management. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much for the information provided. Next, there's intervention by Kiske. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you for giving me the floor. This is just to react to the statements of the colleagues from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. And with this, I would like to confirm indeed that on the 19th and 20th of March, 2026, the OEC, as the executing agency of the GEF funded UNDP OEC project on the Dniester River Basin, we have received official requests from both countries, from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, with the request for collection and transport of samples, comprehensive laboratory analysis, identification of pollutants and concentrations, as well as a targeted and non-targeted pollutant screening to be performed within an EU-based laboratory. As a consequence of that, we have reached out to a number of EU countries with the kind support of UNEC colleagues, and we are thankful for that. And we have identified a laboratory based in Slovakia that was ready to perform all the analysis indicated. We have informed the two countries on this result, and I'm happy to say that within the framework of the project that we have had the pleasure to present yesterday, we continue to stand ready to support the two countries in such efforts, but also mostly with the implementation of project activities. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much for the information. And next there is an intervention by the European Union. Thank you, Chair. Good morning. The EU would also like to react to the information shared by Ukraine and Moldova. The EU and its member states would like to reiterate the resolute condemnation of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a manifest violation of the UN Charter, and we reaffirm our continued and unwavering support of Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its international recognized borders. We are painfully aware of the negative consequences this conflict is having, not only on lives and livelihoods of people, but also on the environment. The damage of the war has led to a significant reduction in water reserves and contamination of water sources. This poses a serious threat to public health, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases, and compromising access to safe drinking water. We underscore the need to reach as soon as possible a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine, in full respect of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, based on the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chair. Thank you very much, European Union. I don't see any further interventions. So, somebody is called. Oh, okay. Yes. Russian Federation, please. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Chair. The Russian Federation would like to exercise its right to reply following the statements that we've heard by the representative of Ukraine, Moldova, and European Union. We reject the accusations against us. With respect to pollution of the Dinista River, we note that there is no proof that our country was associated with the supposed pollution. The type and volume of pollutant is absent in the information presented. The information presented by Moldova is vague. It's clearly that Kysenov and Kiev have clearly political goals in blaming the Russian Federation. This is very politicized. We have not heard today any new information or evidence. As regards to the accusations brought by the European Union, we would like to note that the situation is very far from being unambiguous. The pollution that was caused by the Russian Federation and continues to be caused by the Ukrainian armed forces is something we continue to track. However, colleagues prefer to focus just on one side of the situation. In conclusion, this group is an expert body, Madam Chair. It should not be engaged in unilateral accusations against any countries. More than that, this question is not covered by our agenda. I would call on you, Madam Chair, to interdict attempts to initiate such discussions in this forum. Thank you. Thank you very much for your intervention. I think that we will continue. We don't see any more flags on the floor. So, with your information, Ukraine, please. Thank you, Chair. I am just taking the floor in exercise of the right of reply. Russia is once again attempting to shift attention from the root cause to selected consequences. There can be no equivalence between the systematic large-scale and year-long destruction caused by the aggressor, resulting in grave human suffering and severe transboundary environmental damage and efforts aimed at bringing this war to an end. As the aggressor state, Russia bears international responsibility for the consequences of its unlawful use of force. If Russia now claims concern about environmental consequences, the most effective way to address them is to stop its unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine. Madam Chair, I thank you. Madam Chair, I thank you. Madam Chair, I thank you. Madam Chair, I thank you. Madam Chair, I thank you for the intervention. Thank you for the intervention. I suggest that with this, we will continue the agenda. talkorschach The proposed decision is that the working group expressed its appreciation for the progress made in development, new agreements on monitoring, assessment and data sharing in transboundary basins, as we heard in the beginning of this session. And with this I would like to invite you to accept this decision. No objections? So now we can move on for the agenda item 5. And that will include a strategic discussion on transboundary water cooperation, including monitoring, assessment and data sharing at the 2025 United Nations Water Conference. And for us, information on this item will be provided by my colleague Bakari Fatti from Senegal, who is the co-host of the 2026 UN Water Conference, to provide a brief update of the preparations and to include the key outcomes on the high-level preparatory meeting that had taken place in Dakar earlier in January this year. So please, Bakari. Thank you very much, Anna, for giving me the floor. I'm very happy to take the floor this morning representing a key country at the United Nations, working also with the UAE. And I'm very happy to share some information with you on the preparations, but also the results of the priority meeting in Dakar for January. So there's already preparations underway which are rapid and focused on action. You'll agree with me that the 2026 United Nations Conference comes at a time where achieving SDG 6 remains heavily jeopardized, requiring a systematic acceleration of our efforts. Major progress has been achieved. The effective launching of the co-chair's efforts on the six topics and interactive dialogue are crucial steps. We are working in a very structured way focused on key results and actions. The organization of the ministerial meeting of the co-chair countries makes it possible to clearly lay out the expectations and hopes for policies. This leads to major progress, we believe. And we are moving to a new logic of co-construction of measurable expectations. In terms of results of the high-level priority meeting in Dakar, identifying some indications that Junji authorized the Они gifsw learning Может to be more informed, Okej Manin-d큰 pieza of stakeholders around a number of structural initiatives. The National Workshop for Mobilization made it possible to align all of the Senegalese stakeholders and to present a united national voice. Also focused on partnership around water and leadership by women as well as participation by young people in water governance. Active mobilization of young people and civil society helps us move towards local grassroots solutions initiatives. And a day for open dialogue with stakeholders on governance, funding and partnership was an approach which made it possible to lay the framework for truly active dynamic cooperation. At the highest level we want to send a strong political message and this was made possible by the presence of the president who sent a clear and strong message. First acceleration of investment in the sector, move to measurable results, and reinforce multilateral cooperation, positioning water as a strategic priority on a global level. And so this political leadership supported and strengthened the preparatory meeting in Dakar. Moving on to accountability around results and strategic interactive dialogues, the work in Dakar made it possible to consolidate systemic dialogue for the population, for prosperity, for the planet itself, for cooperation and in multilateral processes more broadly, as well as general investment in water. The coaches working with the states and stakeholders prioritize the, identify the priorities for each of the dialogues, the transformative approach that's needed to bring together political and technical requirements. Turning to the third aspect of accountability and measuring the results of the high-level meeting in Dakar, we can note that discussions made it possible to identify and explore deeply key issues such as the key bottleneck. This must be underscored. The launching of the Upcomadity made it possible to anchor the scientific approach, supporting decision-making, bringing together researchers and policy makers. As a result, I'm happy to tell you that that we achieved strategic progress at the Dakar meeting, which allowed us to build a shared vision of global priorities, to structure the dialogue and the results that we hope for, and to align political will around SDG 6 in a multi-stakeholder approach. This also made it possible to validate the Dakar roadmap involving the UAE at Abu Dhabi, where the process will be guided until December of 2026. And so, Madam Chair, that was the essence of my presentation on the Preparity work and the results of the Dakar Preparity meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Merci beaucoup, Bakari, for this information concerning the preparations for the UN Water Conference, as well as the outcomes, the messages from the Preparity meeting in Dakar Preparity meeting in Dakar. So, with this I would like to invite next Finland and Zambia, as well as France here to the podium, to inform about their plan, as in their role as co-chairs for the Interactive Dialogue for Water Cooperation, namely Finland and Zambia, and France as a co-chair for the Interactive Dialogue F, Investments for Water. So, please, you can join us here now. Inform us. We're staying. We're staying. Oh. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. As we are all seated, so please, Finland and Zambia, please inform of the recent updates and plans for the Interactive Dialogue on Water for Cooperation, including the proposed flagship initiatives. Please. Thank you so much, Chair, and a good morning to everyone here. In regards to the background and objectives, Zambia was nominated to co-chair. Zambia was nominated as co-chair of the Interactive Dialogue D, Water for Cooperation, alongside Finland by the co-host Senegal and the UAE this year in January 2026. This is a unique North to South partnership demonstrating the rules that are based, rules-based transboundary water governance benefits all economies regardless of the development stage. Zambia is committed to co-chair at head state level. Zambia is committed to co-chair at head state level and a work plan has been developed with 25 key partners, key partner organizations across Africa, Europe and globally. The objectives of the Interactive Dialogue are the following. During the preparatory meeting in Dakar Senegal this year in January, a round table discussion on water for cooperation was – had established that water cooperation is a political and institutional necessity for peace, climate resilience and global stability. The focus is on implementation of commitment and tangible improvements on the ground is strived for. The conference enables us to showcase pertinent examples of the benefits of cooperation as well as present progress in cooperation. For example, the inclusion of the signing of new agreements on shared waters or updating existing ones. The conference provides crucial opportunity to promote the global UN water conventions, their principles and applications. New ascension – ascension to the global water conventions could be celebrated with possibly a treaty event, a statement of ascension and intentions. Under the progress that we have achieved so far since our nomination in January this year, we have made strong progress in shaping a structured, inclusive and result-oriented dialogue. Firstly, we have established a clear roadmap from Dakar that is January this year to UAE in December later on this year, anchored on four strategic priorities. Number one, strengthening legal and institutional frameworks for transboundary and international water cooperation, shared knowledge as a bridge for trust, effective inclusion in water management, cooperation in water management, cooperation including leadership, integration across policies and cooperation across sectors. Secondly, we have ensured a broad ownership of this process. That is, over 25 global and regional partners are effectively engaged and consultations are being conducted across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. For example, the Dushambe Water Conference, the Dushambe Water Conference, the INBO World Summit, and African Union Oil System Summit, Stockholm World Water Week, and the HLOPF, UN General Assembly, and Water Convention meetings, et cetera, et cetera. We have also been having a lot of thematic online consultations that we have had and that have been planned. Now, I hand over to our co-chair. Thank you, Mwesi, and good morning also on my behalf. The co-hosts have asked the co-chairs to come up with, throughout the preparatory process and including active consultations of stakeholders, to come up with flagship initiatives that could be launched at the conference. And the initiatives shall bring together diverse stakeholders, be transformational, innovative and scalable, build upon and strengthen existing efforts, and create impact beyond the conference. And as co-chairs, we have in consultation with our key partners, we have identified some seeds for flagship initiatives to be launched at the conference. And this will be further developed during the year in the consultations that are being planned. And as a transboundary cooperation is at the heart of this dialogue, this is also kind of a red line throughout the different flagship initiatives. As our ambassador yesterday mentioned already at the reception, the boldly titled 100 parties initiative is the first flagship we propose, with the aim of organizing a treaty event at the water conference and having new parties acceding to the convention before or at the conference, and celebrate that in Abu Dhabi in December. And in addition to that, we are preparing a declaration of intent to accede to the convention for those countries who are in the process of acceding, who are considering to starting the process of acceding to the convention, but are maybe not yet ready to accede this year. And we see this initiative very important for the future of the convention and the future of the transboundary cooperation. Now at the UN conference, it would be a good moment for accelerating the impact on transboundary cooperation. And we call for all member states to consider acceding to the convention or parties of the convention to support those countries who are already in the process of acceding. In addition to the 100 parties initiative, we also have ideas for other flagships focusing more on the cooperation on the ground, for example targeting new and renewed basin arrangements and agreements could be joint data sharing protocols, for example, launch of new and celebrating the progress of peer-to-peer and twin arrangements between basins or countries, joint monitoring and data sharing, the work that has been done here today, yesterday and the day before, we are looking at the new technologies, for example, is a knowledge product that could be celebrated at the conference and showcasing initiative of and good practice of financing for river basin organizations, for example. Regarding the other aspects of the dialogue, also we are seeking for improving the science policy integration for water governance. And here again, I think the discussions yesterday and day before already touched upon very concretely the need for improving the integration of science and policy and how the new technologies can be utilized with this regard. And then we are also striving for the water, energy, food and ecosystem nexus approach, also including with the private sector, through their water stewardship action and throughout the value chains of the goods and products that we all are using. And finally, but not least, also we are advocating for inclusive governance and ensuring meaningful participation of youth, women, indigenous peoples and so on. And this is all we do with our partners and I also recognize that many of these initiatives are cross cutting with other interactive dialogues as well. So we also look to work together with the other co-chairs. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Gambi, Finland and Zambia for your information. So definitely hope that the flagship initiatives will move forward and of course inviting all of you to support those. Next, we will have an information on the interactive dialogue. F, investments for water. And please, Fanny, please inform us the plans of France with respect to this. Thank you, Madam Co-Chair. I appreciate this opportunity to present the work undertaken by France with South Africa. I am delighted to co-preside with them the preparations for this interactive dialogue on the issue of investments for water financing technologies, innovation and capacity building. This topic is naturally seen as a cross cutting issue to tackle global challenges in water and as a facilitating factor for the five interactive dialogues. The conference, the first preparatory exchange happened in Dakar. This allowed for us to put forth key pillars on which France and South Africa are leaning to prepare this process. The first issue is the urgency of translating political ambition into concrete country driven investment pathways, particularly in regions facing structural financing gaps and highly high climate vulnerability. Secondly, we need to advance international cooperation, coordination among partners and governance mechanisms that are conducive for investments and supporting innovative finance and other funding mechanisms, as well as. As well as we also have drafted a joint plan with South Africa in order to undertake multi-stakeholder consultations, pointing at 2026, looking at the milestones. We use this platform to mobilize initiatives on our flagship opportunities to bring about still fragmented governance and to provide resources, input rather, for decision making where there's limited capacity capacity. The first consultations allowed for us to identify existing initiatives and potentials for scalability. They can be presented later. The first is the creation of a roadmap for priorities for sustainable development for water across sectors and to promote investment systems for the long run. The first initiatives were presented, for example, for the cross-border water initiatives. We also are seeking to link the water policies to development policies, the National Water Compact, for example, and World Bank projects as well. These initiatives from heads of state, for example, sanitation and water for all, among others. We also are focusing on the importance of supporting capacity building and partnerships with key initiatives such as the capacity SDG6 Capacity Development Initiative, UNESCO and UNITAR. And then there's the need to mobilize public-private partnerships and to give priority to innovative practices, mixed financing, risks, debt, etc. The work undertaken by the water convention can nourish many of these areas and we're pleased about this. Among the priorities and integrated governance, it is crucial that there be investments in water and there are useful work being done in joint management, the benefit from cross-border initiatives for follow-up and monitoring and evaluation. Also, the innovation, technology, and capacity building, the interactive dialogue can benefit the exchanges that have happened yesterday and today as well. Also, looking at this interactive dialogue, we are going to continue our exchanges, our preparatory exchanges, and we encourage the actors to put forth examples in the working group and in the UN Convention so that cooperation on cross-border water can facilitate our work. I thank you very kindly. The interpreters would remind the speakers to speak at a pace that lends itself to proper interpretation. Thank you. Thank you very much, Fanny and France for this information provided very crucial financing issues for the water in general and also, of course, for the topics we have discussed during the last two days, monitoring and assessment and in the future. The other is the innovative tools and technologies to enable the water allocation decisions. By the way, the interpreters also mentioned that speak slower so they can provide a better interpretation of your messages. So, there is no hurry. Let's take the time we need. Next to me is Sonja Kappu, Secretary of the Water Convention and Sonja will also inform us about the recent developments related to the UN Water Conference preparations by the Water Convention. Please, Sonja. Thank you very much and good morning. Obviously, the whole United Nations system is mobilized to support the preparations for the UN Water Conference. While the conference secretariat is provided by UN DESA, the Department for Economic and Social Affairs in New York, but in the framework of UN Water, many UN agencies are very much engaged in the preparations, including we as Water Convention Secretariat. So, for example, we contributed heavily to the High Level Preparatory Conference for the United Nations Water Conference, which was held in Dakar and in relation to Senegal for the successful meeting, which Bakari also summarized. Then, in the last few weeks happened regional consultations to prepare for the UN Water Conference. They were organized by the Regional Economic Commissions of the United Nations and were often combined with the Regional Forum for Sustainable Development, which, for example, in our region, for the UNESI region, was held on 21st to 22nd of April in Geneva. We organized there a roundtable on SDG 6 progress, which served at the same time as a preparatory event for the Pan-European region for the UN Water Conference. Several of you were there. And similar events were held, for example, last week in Addis for the Africa region or in the middle of April in Santiago de Chile for the Latin America region. And ESCAP, so the Economic Commission and Social Commission for Asia Pacific will organize a regional consultation for the Asia Pacific region on 25 May in Dushanbe. And all those outcomes of those consultations are feeding into the documents which we are preparing from the United Nations system. For example, the concept papers for the Interactive Dialogues. So for each of the six Interactive Dialogues at the UN Water Conference, two or three UN agencies have been designated as co-conveners to prepare the concept papers in cooperation with the so-called informal preparatory working group. And we UNESCO and UNICE, we have been designated to support the preparations for the Interactive Dialogues on Water for Cooperation. So we are currently in the process of finalizing the first zero draft of this document to be submitted next week. So that it can be ready for the next big preparatory meeting, which will be the Dushanbe Water Conference to be held on 25 to 27 of May in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Then another important milestone on the way to the United Nations Water Conference is the High Level Political Forum in New York in July. It will happen between the 7th and 15th of July, but the most important is the first week, namely 7th of July, which is the date when SDG 6 will be officially under review. So there will be an official session reviewing the status of implementation of SDG 6, followed by a special event on SDG 6 organized by UN Water in the afternoon of that day, where the United Nations system will also launch SDG 6 synthesis report on water and sanitation as an input from the UN system, reviewing the status of implementation of SDG 6 and providing some recommendations. On how to accelerate in order to achieve hopefully SDG 6 by 2030. And since water will be one of the main topics of the HLPF, many other events, side events and others related to water will happen in New York. So maybe some of you are planning to travel there or your countries will be represented and we would like to encourage you then to take part actively and again promote the importance of Transpondi Water Corporation and the Water Convention at this occasion as well because it's very important to highlight it also in the diplomatic circles in New York. And then there will be other events obviously in the coming months at different levels at different levels at global and regional levels up to the UN Water Conference to be held now according to the new dates on 8 to 10 of December in UAE of this year. So on the next slide you can see a short summary of how we are engaged as a Water Convention Secretariat. As I already mentioned we are co-convener with UNESCO of IPWG on Water for Cooperation which is preparing the concept paper for the Interactive Dialogue. Then we are really trying to inform and mobilize countries in advance of the UN Water Conference to ensure high level participation at the conference but most importantly ensure also concrete outcomes, complete commitments at the conference through a session like this here at this working group or at the upcoming working group at the Water Convention in October. And we are also mobilizing the Transpondi Water Corporation Coalition in this sense for example. And as mentioned by the co-chair, it's really the most important and also by the co-host is to have some concrete outcomes advancing the water agenda and advancing implementation of water related issues on the ground at the UN Water Conference. And in our case related to our topic of transbound cooperation, we really hope to have new accessions by the time of the UN Water Conference or before. For example, through a possible treaty event or other high level events at the Water Conference. We think it would be a very positive sign if several Transpondi agreements could be signed at the conference. And we know that some mind the process and maybe some of you can even share in order to show that that concretely a transbounded water cooperation is moving, is showing concrete steps forward and is having positive impacts beyond water itself. And then certainly apart from this, we as Water Convention and we are also trying to contribute to other topics at the conference, not only on the Interactive Dialogue D on Water for cooperation, but also other, basically most of the other Interactive Dialogues as well. Through, through on the one hand, through on the one hand, with this policy brief on new technologies and innovation for monitoring assessment, data sharing which was discussed yesterday, through engagement with partners, through site events and others. and others and we look forward also to partnering with some of you who are who are planning events or or launching initiatives or others at the UNWOTO conference. So finally just to conclude we stand ready to support you and particularly those countries in the process of accession and look forward to hearing from some of you maybe where you stand in this process. Thank you. Thank you very much Sonja for this information so already and set to the road towards the conference but still a lot of work remains I'm sure. So well now I would like to open the floor to discuss the plan concerning the UNWOTO conference of the countries including the plans of the countries on how to access the convention in the future. Slovenia please. Thank you Madam Chair. Good morning dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. Let me spare a few minutes of your precious time of our precious time on this very important topics we were just informed about by the colleagues from the panel. I believe that we all agree that the year 2026 is a very important year not only for the water convention but for all all platforms which are dealing for the water. We know this because we have experience from 2023 which was also the UN water conference year and this year 2026 is the year of the third conference of the UN water and in fact for first third conference on water of United Nations. Now on top of this 2026 is not only the the year of the the UN water conference on water. There are other major processes going on like the Dushan Bay process and in all of these processes of course our interest that is the interest of transboundary water cooperation which is sovereignly covered by the water convention should be present, promoted and ensured and sustained. Therefore I would of course fully support all the efforts of the colleagues from the panel and add to this that to go concretely to the UN water conference 2026 to the interactive dialogue water for cooperation organized by Finland and Zambia and by assistance of the secretariat to express my opinion that in fact the interactive dialogue for water for cooperation is on one hand a kind of a shelter for the water convention and its ideas and vice versa. Water convention its ideas and its ideas and mission is also a safe and then a kind of a given edge. Water convention someone has always have to implement multi-statenenusted and direct Competition His Jeans That means we are facing a counter Olga ==== Water bersenade It means we are facing a symbiosis, symbiosis in the preparation of a very important part of the message of this year's UN water conference. And we know that symbiosis can be transferred into a synergy. part of the message of this year's UN Water Conference. And we know that symbiosis can be transferred into a synergy. And I'm glad to say that the synergy is in place already and that we are, of course, fully supporting, speaking on behalf of the Bureau here, the efforts of Finland and Zambia. And if I may now wear my second hat today as a representative of Slovenia, I would like to express full support of Slovenia to efforts of Finland and Zambia and the will to cooperate in these efforts also in the coming days of the Dushanbe High Level Water Conference and in the forthcoming High Level Political Forum in New York in July this year. At the end, I would like again as the Chair of the Water Convention to give an appeal, a clear appeal to countries which are just before the accession and the countries, as we say, who are in the waiting room and have maybe potential to do this, to make maximum effort to conclude the accession processes in the countries before the UN Water Conference 2026 in the beginning of December this year. This would make, this would have at least two very important impacts. The first is, of course, the importance and the power and the impact of the Water Convention and the second is the full support of the in-depth ideas of the ID4. Remember that the interactive dialogues are not meant to be forgotten after the conference is finished. The interactive dialogues should be, if I may say so, the lighthouses for the next triennium and hopefully also further on, because we decided on topics, we selected the topics and we believe that the selected topics are important for the global water governance and management. So again, dear representatives of the countries which are just to exceed and which are in the waiting room, please pass the message of the Bureau of the Water Convention that your accession would be very welcome and do as much as you can do to provide it before the conference. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Slovenia. And with this justification introduction you gave, we will actually move and ask for the intervention from the countries that are planning to join or are in the process. So thus, I would give the floor to Benin, please. Yes, you are there. Benin. Thank you very much, Madame Chair, and a good morning to everyone. Benin has commenced the process of acceding to the Convention, and this was back in 2023. The process has followed the established ratification procedures for international conventions. The accession dossier has already gone through several stages, appearing before a number of commissions, before being submitted to the Board of Ministers. Once we see ministerial adoption of the dossier, it will be reviewed at the General Assembly. Now, recently, the Law Commission approved the dossier, and now all that remains is for the deputies of National Assembly to adopt it in plenary session. This is the penultimate stage of completing the National Ratification Procedure, which concludes with signature by the President of the Republic. We offer our gratitude to the Convention Secretariat, which has supported us by presenting vital documents to allow us to go through the appropriate procedures, which has meant that we were able to go through the appropriate procedures, which has meant that we were able to go through more or less in one pass without having to go back and correct the documents. We look forward to the completion of the completion of the process, and we thank you for your support and accompaniment throughout this process, notably around deposition of the signed documents. And so that is where we stand in Benin. Thank you again. Thank you very much for informing of this very encouraging news. It seems to be very well in process. Thanks a lot. And next, I would invite the Democratic Republic of Congo to inform us about the process, please. Thank you very much for giving me the floor. I am Faustin de Gouty-Comou, representing the Environment, Sustainable Development and New Climate Economy Ministry of the DRC. And I am responsible for follow-up and assessment of hydro-materialogical projects. And I work particularly in the Water Resources Department. I'm also the national focal point for the UN Water Convention. Now, my country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, demonstrated its interest in acceding to the UN Convention, starting way back in August of 2024. And by December of that year, we had organised our first national workshop, which was supported 100% by the National Commission. It's my opportunity now to thank the Secretary for the support provided by the UN Water Convention. In May of 2025, we organised another workshop. This involved parliamentarians in our country, because the goal was to prepare the ground in the parliament. When the bill reaches the parliament, we want it to go through smoothly and quickly. And so this is why it was important. And together with the Secretary of the UN Water Convention, we organised this with the assistance of the GZ partnership. Currently, the entire dossier for accession to the UN Water Convention is at the level of the Prime Minister's office. And we are looking forward to adoption by the Cabinet of the Cabinet of the Cabinet of the Ministers. So we're looking forward for this to be handled by the Council of the Ministers, because after that, it can go to the parliament. We have already proposed, or rather compiled a roadmap with the ultimate goal of coming to the December UN Water Convention as full-fledged members. And so our roadmap is laid out with that objective and goal. By May of this year, we want to be able to work on the dossier such that it can already be accepted by the Cabinet of Ministers by the end of May. And then in June, it will be transferred to the Parliament. In the Parliament, we already have a focal point, who is one of the UN Water Convention focal points. The chair of the Senate's environment committee is one of our focal points. And he will be responsible for guiding the bill through Parliament. And after adoption in the Parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate, we hope that all of the accession instruments at the level of the DRC will complete the deposition procedures, so that three months later, in December, we will be recognized as members of the UN Water Convention. And so that, in a few words, is my presentation of the status quo in our country and how the accession process has evolved in my country for the UN Water Convention. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much for the information. You have certainly mobilized and the process is well on track, so thank you very much. It looks very effective. Still, I would like to remind the participants that try to keep your intervention in two minutes. But thank you very much for the information. Next, I would like to invite Uganda to provide the information. Sorry, there was... Uganda, please. Thank you very much for giving me the floor. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Madam Chair, I have an update on the accession process of Uganda. The document is currently at Cabinet together with other documents on water requiring Cabinet approval. We have been told that they will be scheduled for discussion at once by June 2026. We hope to have accession completed by the end of the year during the Water Conference and be part of the eight new parties to the Convention at the Conference. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you for the information. Looking forward for your process also. And, yeah, we're taking the note. Next one, Malawi, please. Thank you very much. In February of this year, 2026, Malawi actually convened the national workshop on the United Nations Water Convention. And this provided an important platform for dialogue and consensus building on Malawi's ascension to the Convention. And as a result, the deliberations confirmed that ascension presents a significant opportunity for Malawi to strengthen transboundary water cooperation, enhance climate resilience, enhance climate resilience, improve water governance, and align national frameworks with international best practices in the management of shared water resources. And as a result, I am pleased to announce that Malawi has also initiated the formal ascension process. And through the responsible government institutions, the country is currently preparing the necessary instruments of ascension, which upon completion with the required national procedures will be submitted to this for the signature of his excellency, the President of the Republic of Malawi. Thank you very much for the information process in Malawi. And next, I would invite Central African Republic, please. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am Jean-Christophe Roganbe, and I am the national focal point and chair of the Intersectoral Piloting Committee for the UN Water Convention in the CAR. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair. Well, our country shares in its territory the Chad Basin and the Congo Basin, so two lake basins. We started the accession process in 2019 by naming a focal point. In 2020, the Environment Ministry drew up a letter of interest in membership in the Convention, and in 2025, we put in place an intersectoral piloting committee with 17 members to work on the process of acceding to the Convention. This committee brought together representatives of all the political bodies, including the Presidency, the Parliament, all ministries, as well as relevant organisations and agencies. On the 10th of March, 2026, the CAR reiterated its interest through another letter of interest, transferred by the Foreign Ministry as a not verbal, indicating that work was active on the initiative, and now we wish to participate in the Abu Dhabi conference, and we have three different activities to work on before December. The first is to organise a workshop on approval of the UN Water Convention with all the parliamentary sectors to discuss the relevant issues and interests with respect to the various laws on the environment, water, pollution, and so forth in our country. That meeting, which we would like to hold by June, will allow us to have clear recommendations on our country's interest in membership. In September of this year, we would like to organise a national workshop that would bring together representatives of civil society, as well as all key parts of the government, from the Parliament to Presidency all the way down to local municipalities, and this would allow an exchange of views and a discussion on the benefits that could be drawn from membership in the Convention. And so the recommendations that flow from the national workshop will allow us to see the country's true and full position and to transmit a favourable opinion to the Cabinet of Ministers, and in turn they will be able to forward a positive opinion referring the dossier to the National Assembly. Therefore, the CAR proposes that by December of 2026, we will be able to come back with a letter from the Cabinet of Ministers approving the process and another for National Assembly approving ratification. I'd like to add that the CAR upstream of all of this, through the proprietary workshops at the Intersectoral Piloting Committee, has all of the necessary will and intention to work towards ratification. The CAR assures you that at Abu Dhabi, we will come back to you with the necessary legal instruments to approve and validate ratification, and we look forward, therefore, to eventually ratifying the Convention, and we would like to offer our gratitude to the financial of the support, which is necessary to allow us to complete the final two stages, including the organisation of a workshop with the Intersectoral Committee. This is vital in order that all relevant parts of the Government participate in the final stages, including taking into account the relevant SDGs, the different Basin organisations, also need to be involved. We need to go through the relevant committee in order to involve all stakeholders. However, this requires resources. We are, as you know, a post-convert country, and this is why we present this roadmap in the hope of receiving your support to execute it. Thank you. Thank you for the information. Surely you are also on a long track on the way. Please reminding again to keep your interventions in two minutes, if possible. But of course, we are very happy to hear this progress towards this 100 flagship initiative, hopefully. So next, I would like to give the floor to Kongo, please. Madam Chair, thank you very much. Thank you for the honour of having afforded me the floor. I also would like to introduce myself, Pascal Marangak. I am the councillor in charge of Climate and Environmental Matters at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kongo here in Geneva. I will allow myself to also offer a brief, a very brief, how should I say it, presentation of the current state of affairs in my country as regards the changing situation and our accession to the convention. Currently, the Republic of Kongo has not officially acceded to the convention on water, to the UN Water Convention. However, it is clear that the process is moving along apace. Our country has reaffirmed its political will to join this treaty, and we put into place structures to make that happen. So here are some recent developments that I could share with you in detail. Five points. First, the official commitment. The administration of the Republic of Kongo has officially confirmed its will to accede, and this will allow for us to cooperate internationally and to prevent conflicts of usage. Also, the creation of a council. A council, a consultative council, was inaugurated in 2025. This body adopted the Brazzaville Declaration, which commits us to actively support that accession, our accession. Technical support as well. Third item. Here, I would say that while we are still an observer, the Congo does have technical support from the Secretary of the Convention in order to prepare for our incorporation into the mechanism. And lastly, the goal or target we've set, our country would like to finalize its accession between now and the conference in December 2026. We will be actively participating, and rather, we are actively participating in regional dynamics in order to achieve this target. I thank you kindly. Thank you very much. Promising information. And next, we will move to existing member countries. So, Namibia, please. And reminding you of the time. It's already running, unfortunately. Thank you very much, Madam Che. Allow me to issue, echo a few sentiments, especially in line with the 100 Parties Flagship Initiative and the new accession. Namibia's experience shows that high-level political participation in international water diplomacy can move accession from intention to action. At the 2023 UN Water Conference side event, speeding up trans-boundary water cooperation, the value for water convention, Namibia publicly reaffirmed its commitment to accede to the water convention. At that time, Namibia had already submitted its expression of interest during the ninth meeting of the parties in September 2021. And the National Assembly, our National Assembly, had approved accession. The remaining steps were the preparation and the deposition of the accession instrument with the United Nations Treaty Section. The minister's participation in this side event helped fast-track this final stage by converting a national process into an international commitment. It created visibility, strengthened political ownership, and placed Namibia's accession process within the global community of states committed to cooperation, peace, and sustainable use of shared water. Namibia accession was later done on the 8th of June. As we look forward to the United, to the 2026 UN Water Conference, Namibia's message is quite clear. Use this global platform not only to speak about cooperation, but to complete the formal steps required to join the convention. So, as the next UN Water Conference should therefore become a moment for accession, for acceleration, where interested parties can be prepared to announce, deposit, or finalize the accession instrument. In doing so, we will send a strong collective message that shared water must unite all of us. And Namibia is happy to assist where necessary. I thank you. Thank you very much, Namibia, for your commitment and offer. Next one, I would invite Gambia. Gambia. Oh, he left. All right. Then we have to wait. Cameroon, please. Good morning to one and all, and thank you for having given me the floor. Dear Co-Chair Cameroon, would like to mention, not the matter of accession, because we're already a member, but we would like to indicate that in our prep, we'd like to share with you information on our preparations for the December 2026 conference in Abu Dhabi. We would like to indicate that. One week ago, we held an important sub-regional workshop in April. And in that sub-regional workshop, we brought together numerous stakeholders, some 50 individuals. They came from the sub-region, but they also came from places the world over. At that workshop, we also held exchanges, abundant exchanges, on the issue of capacity building and technical cooperation across borders. This in step with the interactive dialogue. I wanted to note that these issues have been abundantly discussed at these exchanges in Uwandae. These exchanges insisted on sharing of data, which is something that we've been looking at since day one. We also have addressed the importance of using technology to address the challenges in sub-region in water resources and also looking at resources in general. So data is very important in all of these matters. We would call upon stakeholders or partners to support the sub-region so that we can better be able to have and use the data. Also, it's important to note the following. At the Aonde workshop, it was supported by a call, a call for all countries of the sub-region, not just to accelerate their accession process to the Water Convention and to the 1997 Treaty, but also to forge ahead with concrete plans, with concrete steps that are achievable. in Uwandae, we called upon states to strengthen cross-border cooperation and to integrate the countries of the basin and finance partners to address this cross-border aspect in all discussions. Thank you, Madam Chair. This is what I wish to contribute at this time regarding the 2026 roadmap. Thank you. Thank you very much for reminding you on the topic of the data sharing and information, concrete steps. Gambia, please. Thank you, Chair. As our session coincided with the 2023 UN conference, UN Water Conference, the Gambia wishes to share its experience during this intense global drive. The Gambia used the global momentum and visibility generated by the conference to strengthen national awareness and political commitments towards the accession to the two UN Water Conventions. The conference provided an important platform to engage with all partners at all levels. One of the most difficult moments in the process was that the accession process intersected with the national election cycle in early December 2021. And later, the parliamentary elections, which further delayed parliamentary approval, maintaining momentum during these periods required continuous engagement, coordination, and advocacy across institutions. Nevertheless, the National Assembly ratified the two conventions on 16th March 2023, just before the UN Water Conference. Barely a month after the conference, on the 23rd April 2023, His Excellency the President signed the instruments of accession, marking a major milestone in the Gambia's commitment to transboundary water cooperation. Strong technical support from the Water Convention and partners and collaboration with regional international partners help sustain the process and move it forward. An important lesson from the Gambia's experience is that inclusive participation, strong coordination, and effective communication are essential for a successful accession process. International events such as the UN Water Conference can act as an important catalyst, but sustained national ownership and collaboration remain key to achieving accession. Thank you. Thank you very much, Gambia, for the experience on the different steps and collaborations on the pathway towards accession. And next one, we will have Ghana, please. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to speak and good afternoon to everyone. So Ghana is one of the first countries outside the Pan-European region to join the convention after the global opening as her voice and welcomes the call for the 100 accessions, which should not be seen as too ambitious. There is a need for countries from Africa, Asia, the Americas to join the convention because through this, we join a community of practice that helps us promote sustainable transboundary water resources governance. Ghana once again offers her support to the accession process in terms of technical support and any guidance that may be necessary to allow more countries to join so that we achieve our 100 accessions. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ghana, for these comments and also encouragement. Next one, I think, is Hungary, please. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I will be very short. I'm... Thank you for the update for the preparation of the conference. And I think it's very important to have more visibility during this whole process and also the meeting later on. And I'm very delighted that the Water for Cooperation is co-chaired by Finland and Zambia because I see the assurance that our convention will be represented very well during these processes. I also want to mention that we are with Germany leading the... one of the... also related topic, the development of agreements and others and I hope that the incoming global workshop in June in Budapest also will contribute for this process. And finally, I also like to inform you that a new government is forming at this moment in Hungary and I hopefully would be happy if we could represent our country during the December meeting with high-level representatives. Thank you. Thank you very much for the information and also forthcoming global workshop. Next one, Italy, please. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just I would like to add some information about another activity that is going to take place in this year and this is the Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum that will take place for 29th of September to the 2nd of October in Rome and will involve all the country of the Mediterranean basin. All the information about the participation and the activity to plan are on the dedicated website. and I am not personally in the board of the organizers but when I am up late I can provide all the information. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Very encouraging initiative all of Mediterranean countries will join the meeting. Next one, I would like to invite Jordan who is a new party who recently joined the convention and that will be celebrated in the October working group meeting but please tell us about your experiences. Welcome. Thank you Madam Co-Chair. I can speak in English but given that we have interpretation services including Arabic most recently so I am happy to speak in the Arabic idiom. My name is Da'er Al-Momani from Jordan from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. We joined in April and after our accession we are looking forward in the future to be able to bring in more members so that in our region cooperation is increased because we are suffering in the region with a number of issues with Syria and maybe you are apprised of the most recent events in Syria over the past several years and so what we are trying to do is to increase cooperation and there is cooperation ongoing right now between Jordan and Syria and over various dialogues and joint programs we are trying to convince them to accede to the water convention. There are joint projects ongoing as well between Jordan and Syria through the SDC and the Blue Peace initiative and we are cooperating with GIZ and really looking forward to joint action to come away with solutions to the joint Al-Yarmouk basin which we share with Syria and insha Allah we will be able to achieve progress in the next years in such a way as to find the right solutions that have been pending for so long when it comes to the management of the joint Al-Yarmouk basin between Jordan and Syria. We are very happy in Jordan to have acceded to the water convention and indeed we are happy to hear Arabic in the proceedings under the convention. Thank you all very much. thank you for all of the efforts that you've been expanding to ensure that there are solutions to the existing issues and some of the dilemmas that are facing countries in the management of surface and ground water basins. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your intervention information what is going in your region and also that now the seed is sown and you can even enjoy and have opportunity to speak Arabic in the meeting which is a great thing so thank you very much and also for your efforts to sort of to spread information and possibly also invite other members further to the convention. Then there was also request from Panama please. First off greetings it's a pleasure to be representing Panama here surrounded by so many colleagues that have provided so much value in the issue of the integrated water management issue. Based on the remarks we've heard from some colleagues that are interested countries that are interested in acceding to the convention Panama as the first country in Latin America to do so we wish to urge those countries to continue to forge ahead with your efforts to complete this diplomatic process. Panama presented its proposal we had our foreign minister Haina Tiwani involved and that was in 2023 and thanks to that work in July 2023 after this was launched in March we were able to forge ahead and in that same year we were able to accede to the convention. this interest expressed by all of these countries in being here even if they are not yet acceded to the convention shows the effort that each country wants to deploy to be part of this meaningful group. Also when one enters this type of tool globally it allows for a country to present projects that are also very meaningful and important. in that same year 2023 in October Panama presented a Rio Coto and neighboring basin that includes our work with Costa Rica. The majority of that basin is in Panama but it also affects things in Costa Rica. We were able to speak with colleagues from Costa Rica that are also part of the party to the convention. I think that the results have been incredible truly. We have had this rapprochement strengthened what we have right now which is a binational commission. We would like to know what the role and objectives are of such a commission so that allow for long and short term goals in a commission such as that. So without further ado I do encourage delegations to continue to move toward an integrated watershed management in their basins. Thank you very much. Panama for reminding the benefits of joining the convention and as we say in the north initiating a snowball effect meaning that when you throw a snowball and the snow is wet it starts growing and growing equivalent for sowing a seed. Thank you very much. I think now everybody who has wished to say the interventions have finished that and we can continue towards the proposed decisions so I will read them now. The working group encouraged countries in the process of accession to water convention and the water courses convention to finalize their accession processes by the 2025 United Nations water conference with the view of depositing their instruments of accession before the conference encouraged parties and non-parties to leverage the 2026 United Nations water conference to strengthen cooperation arrangement on shared surface and ground waters including by developing and adopting the new transboundary water cooperation agreements and other arrangements where such frameworks do not yet exist or are inadequate encourage also parties and non-parties to leverage the 2025 UN water conference to strengthen joint monitoring and assessment and data exchange in shared basins including through the use of new technologies and inter-alio through the establishment of enhancement of joint databases monitoring and assessment programs and data exchange protocols invited international organizations international financial institutions non-governmental organizations and other partners to support the implementation of the above efforts as appropriate called upon parties and countries in the process of accession to promote the water convention and its work during the preparatory process for and at the UN Nations 2026 water conference as a key instrument and platform within the UN system for advancing transboundary water cooperation action so with you approval and I see that there is good consent no objections for these proposed decisions so we can approve the decisions as they have been presented thank you and yes and indeed based on many of your interventions these proposed decisions are well underway hopefully to be fulfilled towards UN 2026 conference okay we are delayed with the time but don't worry there is some flexibility and we can move later on we can continue now with the item 6 and then the item 7 will continue in the afternoon so let's move now and start the discussions on item 7 and we thank the yes thanks for your activity for the interactive dialogues that's very welcome so now we will move with item 6 reporting on sustainable development goal indicator 652 and under the convention so that work includes the reporting or support of the reporting for the sustainable development goal indicator 652 under the water convention so now we will continue with the fourth reporting exercise that is ongoing and what does it indicate or induce for us so with that let's go to the business and I will Julia Rombitskaya is here from UNEC and Aurelien Dumont from UNESCO and they will inform the working group on about the fourth reporting exercise exercise thank you so please Julia floor is yours in fact I will start thank you very much madam chair for giving me the floor for this presentation so on this new reporting process on SDG indicator 6.5 2 dedicated to transboundary cooperation so first of all I would like to indicate that in fact this first reporting is part of a wider initiative within the 2026 data drive undertaken by several custodian agencies of different SDG 6 indicators under the umbrella of UN water and the dedicated project on integrated monitoring initiative of SDG 6 so in our case for 652 we sent data request to countries in March 2026 and we have a deadline for countries to submit data by end of June 2026 but of course we will enter into more details in the coming slides so just as a framework to remind you a little bit the indicator 652 is part of target 65 on IWRM integrated water resources management and is specifically dedicated to the aspect regarding to transbondery cooperation and reads as the proportion of transbondery basin area within the country with operational arrangement for water cooperation so this means that to look at and calculate this indicator we need to consider from one side if there is an arrangement in place so it can be a treaty convention an agreement or other type of formal arrangement and then we look we ensure that this arrangement is not only on paper but is in fact operational by looking at four criteria the existence of joint body whether there is annual meetings in the framework of this arrangement is the adoption of joint or coordinated water management plan or joint objective so a little typo here the joint objective together with the coordinate plan the fourth criteria is the annual exchange of data information and importantly also for a country to be able to calculate the overall indicator is 652 value we need to calculate separately the component regarding to trans regarding trans monday river and lake basins from one side and the component regarding trans monday aquifers from the other side which gives the overall value by combining them so as I mentioned we are in the first reporting round sorry now because well this national report is collected and reviewed every three years so we start in 2017 and in term of process so once the country fills the report and sent to UNESCO and UC there is a full review by the caucus union agency so that we have the necessary clarification or we can ask additional information a little bit to complement and to confirm the data and information in the report and well and this data is not only collected by us but then we share this data with the UN statistical division and the UN water data portal and the data is also used in different instances to start with the progress reports on water cooperation worldwide that UNESCO and UC publish every three years following the monitoring and the progress reports on the water convention we have also the progress report of course the data also informs the HLPF every year and especially when SDG6 is under review on specific years but importantly of course this year we will this data will also feed also into the to inform the 2026 but also the 2028 UN water conferences so as I mentioned previously we launched the fourth reporting exercise with a letter that the countries all countries sharing trans-mode water received from the UNEC executive secretary and UNESCO director general with the deadline of 30 June 2026 with also the invitation to use this time for the first time the online reporting platform that was established and Julia will tell you a little bit more about this and we of course UNESCO UNEC we have different type of support to you to the countries starting with the webinars two webinars that took place last month so I'm sure that several of you took part to them there were also UNWATER IMI DG6 data drive Kikok webinar for the different indicators on the monitoring this year and importantly you can also consult some tutorial or videos that are available on the UNEC 652 webpage so in English French Russian and also fully in Spanish so with that I will give the floor to Julia to continue the presentation thank you very much thank you Aurelian so the new online reporting system was prepared by UNEC and UNESCO with the help of the United Nations Office of Information and Communication Technologies and with financial support of the governments of Germany and Switzerland for which we are very grateful this system has multiple benefits for the entry and analysis of data inside the system you will find the harmonized list of rivers lakes aquifers agreements and also joint bodies which were prepared by us based on the information previously provided by the countries and also based on the information contained in some international databases so the system allows you to choose from the drop down list of rivers lakes and aquifers and it will also facilitate the analysis of data based on this pre-populated list this time you will need to fill in the reports yourself in the system but the good thing is that for the next reporting cycle the system will already provide for this information so it will be much easier for you to work in three years from now and the key guidance on how to fill in the system is already incorporated in the system so across the system you will find the so-called information and get the different guidance tools and information available the system allows multiple users from one country to access it so this increases the possibility of coordination within the countries and at any time you can download the draft reports in the format of PDFs in order to share them with your colleagues in order to conduct national consultations and also to consult with your neighboring countries we would like to share with you several tips for reporting so first of all we encourage you to involve all relevant institutions and stakeholders within the countries in the process of preparing the reports so this means your national water agencies environment agencies statistical agencies colleagues responsible for groundwater management also the 651 indicator focal points it's also advisable to appoint a key person or institution which will act as a coordinator of the entire reporting process in the country in order to receive access to the system you were offered to send us the nomination forms so the nomination forms are now being collected by us and they allow us to provide access to country coordinators and country contributors into the system it's very important when you prepare the report to build on the past reporting but also to indicate what has changed and sometimes you think no agreements were concluded nothing has changed but we really encourage you to look with fresh eyes on your cooperation and to indicate any developments which have taken place in these three years so you can also improve the quality of the information by referencing the new initiatives by providing more precise data by referencing new projects which take place within the existing cooperation agreements and of course UNEC and UNESCO are there to help so we provide help by answering to your emails we can also organize dedicated calls if needed and as Aurelien has already mentioned we recorded the video tutorials which help you navigate through the systems and you can also watch the recordings of the webinars we would like to remind you that 652 reports require formal endorsement from the countries so they need to be signed in the very end by the responsible authority please don't sign the drafts before we confirm to you that everything is okay with the draft and you can go and prepare your signed version so we strongly encourage countries to coordinate the reports with their core Iperian countries if this is possible and to align the responses in terms of the basins and agreements and arrangements you can do this by downloading the PDF of the report at any time and sharing the draft with your neighbors you can also use the existing joint bodies river basin commissions bilateral commissions to discuss the replies to various questions with your neighbor and it doesn't mean that the replies should be the same but the opportunity the reporting provides you with an opportunity to actually discuss the situation with your neighboring country to identify gaps and to identify actions to improve the existing cooperation and ultimately the reporting reflects the national position so countries can have different responses to the same questions for the same basis we also remind you that a dedicated document about coordination of replies was prepared by UNEC and UNESCO in the previous reporting cycle so you can use it in order to improve the process of coordination so the first step if you have not yet done it please send us the nomination form and we will give you access to the online reporting system I will now put on the slide the countries who still have not provided yet the nomination forms so we very much encourage you to do it if you are on the list so when you send us a nomination form we will onboard the individuals indicated in the form into the system within one or two days so far we have already received the forms from 93 countries which is a very good result and we can already tell you that 40 countries have started working on their reports in the systems and last week we had the first country submitting their report for review in the system so we are doing well but still there are some things to improve so if your country has not yet sent us the nomination form please do it now and if there are any things to clarify please approach UNICE and UNESCO so the deadline for the reports is 30th of June after the 30th of June we will embark on the validation and review process and we will also start preparing the analysis of the reports and in order to submit the information to the United Nations Statistical Commission the data validation and preparation of the synthesis report will proceed in 2026 and the ultimate objective is of course to inform the political processes so the high level political forums which are taking place every year in summer the United Nations water conferences we hope to have some information some updated information available already for this year United Nations water conference and the synthesis report will be prepared by the United Nations water conference and of course this data also inform other intergovernmental processes such as the intergovernmental process on climate change and on biodiversity and many others so we strongly encourage you to fill the reports online using the online reporting system because only in this case we can really benefit from having the system and from doing the analysis in a more profound and more in-depth ways thank you very much to all the countries who have visited the UNEC UNESCO help desk during these days if you have not yet chance to do it and if you have any questions we are there to help you thank you thank you very much julia and there is also i would like to invite echo us to the informants reporting on west african regions please yes bonjour bonjour à tous good morning to everyone madame chair echo us has always found that the 1992 convention is an opportunity for this region it's an opportunity to open up internationally we have a lot of water interdependence between our member states and so echo us for a number of years has been supporting its member states to implement the convention providing support to member states in various ways notably awareness raising helping disseminate information for countries joining now we have just three that are continuing to receive support Benin which spoke previously Liberia and Guinea we furnish them with consultants to help develop the necessary strategies to fully support the process we're currently working with member states looking into the future to see how we can support them how we can take into account the objectives under the SDG 652 we've also allocated budgets to support our member states so that they can do the necessary to help them implement SDG 6 notably 652 with the nomination of an expert to report on the regional process of GRE and SDG 6 also SDG 6.52 and the results of that work will be presented during our first regional West African Water Forum which will take place in 25th and 26th of September this year three months before the United Nations Conference in Abidjavi so that will be at Abidjan at the end of September this year and then we will present the results on SDG 6 it will also be an opportunity to show all the different forms of support that we provide to our member states for political commitment and to help them find the appropriate solutions in this area and so this is the message that we wanted to bring to the Secretary of the Convention and communicate to all member states to say that we really do wish to continue to support the member states working on the report with all the resources available thank you very much madam chair thank you very much for offering additional support for west african region i would also like to invite unesco to present this igrax database and transboundary aquifers and how it could support reporting please thank you madam chair indeed i would like to present do we have the slide maybe okay so yes in fact i wanted to take the opportunity of being with you today to present also that there is a new edition of the transboundary aquifer map of the world that has been published in 2025 so under the together with unesco and with the support of the international association of hydrologists ieh so as i mentioned in my presentation so the transboundary aquifer component is a monetary component when calculating the 6x2 indicator and we know that gathering data on aquifer and groundwater has been a challenge sometimes for many countries but on the basis of the first three reporting we can notice that this was in fact an unprecedented opportunity to encourage countries to look at this topic and consider how to address gaps in data and cooperation also on transboundary aquifers and we saw real progress in aquifer data and information over the different reporting realms already in the past of course previous edition of this transboundary aquifer map of the world were made available as a support for reporting since the first edition of this map is from 2009 and we had now this is the fifth edition with the important notice that of course this is a global overview and probably you may have also better data and other information at national level and this is also the opportunity of the 652 report also to provide this information but this map is still available as a guidance as a potential database so just a few words on the novelty of this edition so this edition introduces substantial updates based on recent studies and revised assessments noting that the scientific references are presented together with each aquifer in the online database so in total we have 49 new transbondale aquifers that have been added to this edition as compared to the 2021 edition and 41 existing aquifers previously existing have been revised there are also 91 aquifers that have been removed mainly due to lack of supporting evidence or because of replacement by more accurate delineations so this brings the total number of map transmodale aquifers to 426 worldwide and another novelty that for the first time this edition includes basic descriptive information for each transbondale aquifer were available such as the type of aquifer and main lithology so we have an edition a printed version that is available but also of course the PDF online and the online database that is accessible on the YRAC website so YRAC is UNESCO WMO category 2 center located in Delft and is a specialized center on groundwater supporting many initiatives globally on characterization of aquifer and groundwater so they have in particular this online system when you can access this data behind this new edition of the map so you can see the web direction there of course when you click on each aquifer you have some detail on it which are the countries sharing it new information as I mentioned the lithology for instance another way to access to this information is if you look at this red circle there is a possibility to open the attribute table where we have all the list of transboundary aquifers we can filter the information and see also in particular the references that were used to characterize these aquifers on a specific column but most importantly also for the 652 reporting you can download the data the shape file associated with these transboundary aquifers so that you can import it in your favorite GIS software and make some analysis and in particular extract the surface area within your country so of course if you have some difficulty for this we can also help you to undertake this step once you have looked a little bit at the map and confirmed that this is data that you would like to use for the 652 because as I mentioned you may have also and we hope that you have also complementary data within your geological survey or colleagues working on groundwater so yes this was I think this is still a very useful tool and entry point if you lack data on transworld data so with this I will finish my presentation and of course if you have any questions we can follow up on this thank you very much thank you very much it's a remarkable product and it can be improved with the help of the countries and experts so please make use it's wonderful to see this and hopefully it will also help the reporting of the transboundary aquifers especially so the hidden resources are in a way visible on that map thank you very much for your good progress on this we have also some time for expected interventions from the floor but only very few I think we can take only two minutes interventions at this stage mainly about the comments how you have experienced the new online tool for 652 reporting and if you have benefit from the reporting and how you have strengthened the information exchange in transbound boundary basins so very brief two interventions allowed and then we have to go for lunch I see there is the first one from the Democratic Republic of Congo please two minutes very short thank you very much I have a question for UNESCO and UNESCO because the DRC has already filled out the nomination membership form and sent it several weeks ago but our country is listed as one who has not completed that form so I'd like to know how to proceed on that thank you okay thank you if you can keep that we can respond to that later on is there any other questions or interventions you would like to pose immediately no I don't see any questions more who would like to respond to this question did you hear okay thank you very much for raising this I mean we are looking into our files we cannot find the form probably we didn't receive it but we will be in contact with you to clarify this matter and thanks a lot for having done this step apologies it went this way okay so maybe you can clarify that also later on because there will be in fact demo sessions on the online reporting systems in the same meeting room during the lunch break so maybe you can take a benefit on this already now starting at one o'clock in English half an hour demo presentation on the reporting tool so please stay here for those who want to take part in the English demo session and then 2.30 until 3 French session on the tool so please come back if you wish to attend that and I really thank the colleagues from the secretariat and the UN colleagues also for establishing this very nice tools and information and help desks to fill in this SDG reportings or reports for our transboundary SDG indicator it's very crucial because with this we can actually demonstrate the force of the global community actually trying to achieve the SDG objectives that we have set for ourselves many years in 2017 and now we are approaching 2030 so definitely as a global community UN community it's time to show that we are progressing with the SDG indicators and we have a great help and information to doing so and improve tools so thank you very much for your presentations and I wish you fruitful times and interesting times when you are filling this information and reporting for our all joint benefits for sustainable developments now it's time to go for lunch break I think Eric had a couple of announcements so before that Eric please thank you thank you Anna Stina yes before you leave I would like to remind you about the next item so after lunch we will be gathering feedback on the draft publication policy guidance note on conjunctive water management in transboundary basins the draft has been developed by our co-lead parties for this program area Estonia and the Gambia together with a dedicated expert group and let's take this slight delay in the agenda as an opportunity we have provided copies of the draft publication outside of the meeting hall in all six official UN languages so when you leave grab a copy have a look during lunch and you can prepare some nice reflections for us for the session that proceeds good so that's just as a reminder and to close this session before lunch we go back to the decisions yes thank thank you yes thank you very much I tend to forget that we also have decisions for this session so let's go through the decisions very quickly the working group invited all countries sharing transpoundary waters to submit their report on the SDG indicators to UNESCO and UNEC by end of June using the new online reporting system called upon countries to make use of the reporting process to strengthen transpoundary water cooperation including as appropriate by placing greater emphasis on the regular exchange of data and information very crucial exchange information called upon river basin organizations regional economic communities and other relevant partners to support countries in the reporting process as needed and to make use of the reporting process and its outcomes to support transpoundary water cooperation including as appropriate by promoting regular exchange of data and information and with this if there is no objections I would like to approve the decisions I don't see any objections the decisions are approved and here and the demonstrations for the indicator please take your opportunity to follow these demonstrations and for the rest of us feel free to have a nice lunch break and we will convene here as already indicated three o'clock for the agenda item seven thank you very much