On November 27, representatives from Kazakhstan’s water institutions, basin experts, and international partners gathered in Almaty to discuss the next steps for Component 2 of the Blue Peace Central Asia (BPCA) initiative, focusing on cooperation and benefit-sharing in small transboundary river basins. The workshop was organized by IWMI Central Asia together with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan and CAREC.
Blue Peace Central Asia, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), aims to strengthen fair, sustainable, and climate-resilient water management across Central Asia. The new phase of the initiative continues earlier work and aims to strengthen water diplomacy, cooperation on small rivers, and regional capacity building.
During the meeting, participants reviewed the goals of Component 2 and discussed how to select priority small transboundary rivers for upcoming pilot activities. The group worked through proposed criteria, such as data availability, cooperation potential, and climate-related needs, and began forming a short list of two to three rivers for field missions in 2025–2026.
The workshop highlighted the importance of practical cooperation at the basin level for regional stability and climate resilience. By bringing together ministries, basin organizations, civil society, and international partners, the workshop helped strengthen the foundation for long-term collaboration on small transboundary rivers in Central Asia.