LEGAL BOARD OF THE UNECE WATER CONVENTION APPROACHES A NEW TASK

 


The fifth meeting of the Legal Board under the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes took place on 2-3 October 2008 in Geneva.

The Legal Board has been established by the third meeting of the Parties to the Convention to deal with legal questions related to the work under the Convention. At its fifth meeting, the Legal Board started to work on a new task: developing a guide to support ratification and implementation of the Convention. This activity follows requests for support from Georgia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to facilitate their accession to the Convention. The Legal Board discussed a draft concept and outline of the guide and agreed on a general approach, as well as on its structure and content.

Developing a guide will be a multilateral exercise with the close involvement of the Legal Board and the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management. The later will provide practical advice for implementation of the provisions of the Convention. At its meeting in Rome, 22-24 October 2008, the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management will discuss the revised concept of the guide.

The next meeting of the Legal Board will take place on 12-13 May 2009. In the meantime, a small Drafting Group will work on the text of the guide.

Draft concept of the guide can be found at:

http://www.unece.org/env/water/meetings/legal_board/legal_board.htm

For more information contact:

Iulia Trombitcaia,
Eco-Accord/European ECO Forum iutrombitcaia@hotmail.com