International Water Assessment Center (IWAC)

The International Water Assessment Center (IWAC) is the subsidiary joint body of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (hereinafter referred to as the Convention). In 2017, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on the deployment of IWAC in Kazakhstan. Based on this Memorandum, IWAC was established in Kazakhstan in Nur-Sultan as a branch of the Institute of Geography LLP. Basic funding for IWAC activities is provided from the republican budget of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As a joint center of the Convention, the main purpose of IWAC is to support the implementation of the Convention and, as relevant, its Protocol on Water and Health, as well as their work programs adopted by the respective Meetings of the Parties. IWAC will: - provide scientific, methodological and technical support to national governments for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention; - assist countries to introduce best practices, including through pilot projects on transboundary waters; - assist Parties to the Convention with an economy in transition through the organization of seminars and workshops on the exchange of information on best available technologies, on the results of research and development, on training related to monitoring and assessment of the state of water resources; - assist to the Parties to the Convention in the preparation of reports on the status of transboundary waters, including on the basis of general regional information, as well as in the development and maintenance of relevant databases. In carrying out its activities, IWAC shall abide with the principles of neutrality and cooperation, in the best interests of the Convention, in order to safeguard credibility, independence and objectivity.