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Government Steps up Efforts to Strengthen Implementation of State Water Sector Programs

ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN (10 August 2005) - The Committee for Water Resources (CWR) today announced the stepped-up efforts by the Government to strengthen its capacity and capabilities to develop and implement state water resources management and water supply development programs.

The newly added Government efforts are in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Japan through two technical assistance projects totaling $300,000 financed by the Government of Japan under the Japan Special Fund established within the ADB.

During recent years CWR has significantly increased its mandate and operational responsibilities. State programs under CWR increased from 9 in 2002 to 17 in 2005, encompassing water resources management, rural water supply, and irrigation and drainage, among others. The expanded mandate of CWR requires significant operational and managerial capacity and capabilities.

A $150,000 technical assistance project for Institutional Strengthening of the Committee for Water Resources aims to help institutional capacity building for CWR. The TA is expected to elaborate measures and strategies towards strengthening government programs performance in water supply sector. A team of experts led by an Austrian consultant was engaged for the task. A series of workshops will be held to discuss findings and recommendations. The TA will be completed in September 2005.

The other $150,000 TA for Strengthening the Water Supply Sector Program will facilitate implementation and ensure sustainability of the Drinking Water Sector Program 2002-2010. A team of experts led by a former senior-most water expert at ADB were engaged for the task. The TA will help develop

1. procedures to speed up implementation of the Program
2. monitoring mechanisms for implementation progress
3. practical solutions for sustainable operation and maintenance

"The Committee for Water Resources will work closely with these experts to explore a range of possibilities to further improve effective implementation of the important state water resources management and water supply development programs," concluded Nurlan Atshabarov, CWR's Deputy Chairman.

The announcement was made in presence of representatives of the Government of Japan (Toshio Tsunozaki, Ambassador, Embassy of Japan), ADB (Kazuhiko Higuchi, Country Director of Kazakhstan Resident Mission), and consultant team leaders from the two technical assistance projects (Arthur McIntosch and Fritz Schwaiger).

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