Issue No 420 11 - 15 April 2011 WORKSHOP LOOKS AT HOW TO ADDRESS THE INCREASING RISK OF FLOODS AND DROUGHTS INDUCED BY CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change and extreme weather events often involve too much or too little water. “Cooperating to jointly assess impacts of climate change, share results and make sure that measures in different riparian countries are mutually sustaining rather than conflicting sounds logical and thus should be the norm, but it is not,” says Ján Kubiš, UNECE Executive Secretary. “Although many countries are now starting to assess climate change impacts and to develop adaptation strategies for their own territory, still very little is done at the transboundary level. This brings the risk that countries take adaptation measures with unintended negative effects on their neighbours. ” Sharing experiences in this regards is the main aim of the second workshop on water and adaptation to climate change in transboundary basins, which is organized in the framework of the UNECE Water Convention. For two days, on 12 -13 April in Geneva, more than 150 participants from all over the world will discuss the specific challenges of adapting water management to climate change in transboundary basins: how to avoid negative impacts of adaptation strategies in neighbouring countries and how to maximize benefits of cooperation. Further topics for discussion include: How does climate change affect our waters? How to adapt to the climate change impacts on agriculture, navigation and hydropower? How to use ecosystems for adaptation? What preliminary observations can be drawn from the pilot projects on adaptation to climate change in transboundary basins under the UNECE Water Convention? In the opening session, Mr. Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz from Poland, coordinating lead author of the chapter on climate change and water in the fourth IPCC Assessment Report will inform about the latest research regarding climate change impacts on water resources. Representatives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will present the adaptation strategy of the Southern African region, one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. The Mexican National Water Commission will show how Mexico and the United States of America work together to jointly tackle increasing drought problems on their transboundary waters. Other examples will also be showcased, including the cooperation on adaptation to climate change on the Amur/ Argun river, shared by China, Mongolia and the Russian Federation, a case study from Vietnam and many more. The programme is available at: http://www.unece.org/env/water/meetings/transboundary_climate_adaptation_workshop.html For more information please contact Francesca Bernardini at: Francesca.bernardini@unece.org UNECE TO DISCUSS ESTABLISHING AN INTERNATIONAL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE ON PPPs The Third Session of the UNECE Team of Specialists on Public Private Partnerships (TOS PPP) will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 18-19 April 2011. PPPs are complicated to undertake and are therefore often unsuccessful due to the lack of capability in the public sector. Governments have realized that professional PPP capability is one of the main prerequisites for successful PPPs. They have therefore given the TOS PPP a strong mandate to build the capacity of governments in PPPs. Within this mandate, the TOS PPP has prepared guidebooks and modules of a toolkit on PPPs and held many capacity building events in UNECE countries and elsewhere. But member States and the private sector have felt that such actions need to be supplemented and have asked UNECE to give advice on how to build up new skills and transfer knowledge. The meeting will thus discuss a proposal to create an International Centre of Excellence on Public Private Partnerships, which would consist of a hub, established in Geneva under UNECE, and affiliated International PPP Specialist Centres hosted by various countries. Each of these would be dedicated to one sector, such as roads, water, health, food security, prisons, sustainable development, etc. The Centre would link the knowledge gathered within the United Nations system with partners such as the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), UNCITRAL and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the expertise of international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Under this framework, countries would benefit from support and advice as well as high-level advisory missions to aid them in the development of PPPs . Jan van Schoonhoven, head of the PPP Centre of the Netherlands and a member of the bureau of the TOS PPP said: “The PPP world has been waiting for such an initiative for a long time. The current economic climate means many governments are faced with few alternatives than to try and attract private sector financing to improve their infrastructure. From experience, we know that basic information on projects, the skills and knowledge are all in short supply especially amongst transition economies and developing countries. These are the Not an official record - For information only countries that need PPPs the most. This is why we are supporting this badly needed initiative.” The meeting is expected to attract delegates from over 40 countries. Amongst the Opening Panel high-level speakers will be: Dr. Enrique T. Ona, Minister of Health of the Philippines Mr. Ushkunbek Tashbaev, Minister of Economic Regulation of Kyrgyzstan Mr. Loay bin Ahmad Sa'ad Al-Musallam, CEO of the National Water Company of Saudi Arabia Mr. Alexander Bashenov, Director of the PPP Center, Vnesheconombank, Russian Federation Dr. Amer Aladhadh, Head of Qatar PPP Unit Mr. Ioan Bala, Director General, National Administration of Penitentiaries, Romania. For further information, please visit: http://live.unece.org/ceci/documents/2011/ppp/session3tosppp11.html WATER AND HEALTH WORKSHOP FOR EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, 5 AND 6 APRIL 2011, MINSK The workshop organized on 5 and 6 April 2011 in Minsk by UNECE and WHO/Europe, in cooperation with the Ministries of Health and Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus, with support from UNDP, gathered representatives of ministries of environment, health, housing and utilities, of national health and hygiene institutes, water authorities and water committees, as well as NGOs from Belarus, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. population in the eastern part of the region still live in homes that are not connected to a drinking water supply, and access to water in some countries is even regressing. It was the first event in which such a broad community came together in a joint effort to share experiences and discuss challenges related to the implementation of the Protocol on Water and Health to UNECE's Water Convention . Vitaly Kulik, First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus, who opened the workshop, underlined that “human health and life expectancy depend directly on the access to water resources and their safety. In Europe the need for clean water is continuously increasing, while water resources are depleting. The lack of sanitation, unsafe methods of chemical disposal and overuse of fertilizers undoubtedly lead to the degradation of water resources, affect human health and generate serious economic problems.” Access to improved water supply and hygiene has in general increased across the pan-European region, resulting in an 80 per cent decrease in diarrhoeal disease in young children from 1995 to 2005. However, more than 50 per cent of the rural All four countries taking part in the workshop are Parties to the Protocol but are at different stages in its implementation and have different levels of experience. They share, however, similar legal, environmental and social backgrounds and common challenges. These relate, for instance, to increasing the access to safe water and sanitation in rural areas, maintaining water supply and sanitation infrastructures whose decay threatens health, limited financial means for water supply and sanitation sectors, and to the need to strengthen their surveillance systems. For more information, please visit: http://www.unece.org/env/water/welcome.html or contact Francesca Bernardini at: francesca.bernardini@unece.org VULNERABLE EMPLOYMENT IS COMMON IN THE UNECE REGION Vulnerable employment in the European Union, measured as the proportion of own-account workers and contributing family members in total employment, ranges from around 6 per cent (for example in Denmark and Estonia) to around 30 per cent (in Greece and Romania). In the other countries of the UNECE region, the share of own-account and contributing family workers in total employment varies widely. Levels in the Russian Federation are very low but those in South-Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia are significantly higher. In Albania and Georgia they even represent more than half of all people employed. Share of own-account and contributing family workers in total employment, 2008 (or most recent)1 Denmark Estonia Russian Federation Ukraine Montenegro Male Female Total FYR of Macedonia Greece Serbia Republic of Moldova Romania Kazakhstan Turkey Armenia Tajikistan Kyrgyzstan Albania Georgia 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Per cent 1/ Figures for Tajikistan refer to 2004, Estonia and Georgia to 2005, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine to 2006 and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR of Macedonia) to 2007. Information Service United Nations Economic Commission for Europe(UNECE) CH-1211 Geneva 10 - Switzerland Tel.: +41 (0) 22 917 44 44 Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 05 05 E-mail: info.ece@unece.org http://www.unece.org In countries with high levels, shares tend to be higher among women than among men, while in countries with low levels, men have higher relative shares. The overrepresentation of women is highest in Turkey, while the reverse is most pronounced in Denmark, Estonia and Montenegro. Full and productive employment and decent work for all is an essential target linked to the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The share of these workers in total employment is therefore an important indicator to measure progress. Follow UNECE on: http://www.youtube.com/user/UNECE http://twitter.com/UN_ECE http://www.facebook.com/pages/UNECE/332016013671 Not an official record - For information only