The main objectives of the 8th meeting of the Working Group were:
to review the implementation of the programme of work for the period 2014–2016 adopted at the third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (Oslo, 25–27 November 2013)
to provide guidance on its further development, with particular consideration of the financial situation
to initiate a strategic discussion towards the formulation of the programme of work for 2017–2019 to be adopted at the fourth session of the Meeting of the Parties (Bern, 14–16 November 2016).
More information on UNECE website: http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=38174
The Protocol on Water and Health to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) was adopted on 17 June 1999 on the occasion of the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health held at London from 16 to 18 June 1999 and went into force on 4 August 2005 . Now 26 countries are parties of the Protocol
https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVII-5-a&chapter=27&lang=en
the Protocol is aimed to protect human health and well being by better water management, including the protection of water ecosystems, and by preventing, controlling and reducing water-related diseases. The Protocol is the first international agreement of its kind adopted specifically to attain an adequate supply of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation for everyone, and effectively protect water used as a source of drinking water.
The main next water event in November - Seventh session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention, 17-19 November 2015, Budapest, Hungary
The meeting will be held back to back with the workshop on Promoting transboundary water cooperation in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region on the basis of the Water Convention, to be held on 16 November 2015.
Following the entry into force in 2013 of the amendment allowing accession by all United Nations Member States to the Convention, this session of the Meeting of the Parties will mark the Convention’s transition into a global multilateral legal and intergovernmental framework for transboundary water cooperation. More than 80 countries, Parties and non-Parties to the Convention, are expected to be represented in Budapest to review progress achieved in the Convention’s implementation and discuss how the Convention can best support transboundary water cooperation worldwide. Overall, the session will gather about 400 participants, representatives of countries, international organizations, NGOs and academia.
Anna Tsvietkova, Water Programs Coordinator, UNENGO “MAMA-86”