Water Climate Change DRR matrix ADB

ToR for the DCC Water and Climate Change Working Group[1]

  1.  Background and Objectives

The overall objective of the Water and Climate Change (W&CC) WG (which includes a subgroup on DRR) is to ensure effectiveness of donors support to implementation of the Water Sector Reform Program 2016 – 2025 and Mid-Term National Development Strategy 2021-2025 of the Government of Tajikistan, mainly through improved coordination and support to policies and strategies aimed at development of a productive and financially-viable water sector in Tajikistan.

The Water and Climate Change WG has been always largely dominated by discussions of water and DRR issues channeled through a specific sub-group, and climate change discussions embedded in water and DRR-related topics, as explained by the cross-cutting nature of the CC agenda. Climate change agenda related to water sector as the primary medium through which we perceive the effects of climate disruption, from extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, to glacial melting and more intensive periods of heat resulting in increased demand for water for people and crops will remain with this WG. A decision on a broader climate change agenda (on both adaptation and mitigation side) will need to be made by General DCC upon review of the ToRs of other groups, aiming to better integrate climate change aspects pertinent to different sectors and account for CC impact on infrastructure.

As part of the DCC, the WG will continue implementing its mandate through information sharing, coordination and strengthened policy dialogues with the Government of Tajikistan. The following mechanisms are considered for strengthening the WG’s engagement with the Government:

  1. by invitation of the GoT counterparts to different WG meetings;
  2. representing the WG’s position on priority areas (agreed for each year) in discussion with the GoT through bilateral and group meetings;
  3. supporting the GoT in ensuring effective interaction with donors at the existing platforms (quarterly Coordination meetings or annual NPD).

These mechanisms may be applied in parallel depending on the context and structure of the appropriate platforms and nature of the discussions.

  1.  Specific Objectives of the WG

More specific objectives of the WG include:

  1. Coordination among donors for formulation of the common position on priority sector issues within the scope of the Water Sector Reform Program, support to development of the narrative/analytics around these issues and implementation of the informed policy dialogue. Priority issued will be defined by the DCC WG members in the beginning of each year within the following broad categories:
    1. Implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM);
    2. Clear separation of policy, regulatory and sector monitoring functions from the asset management, operation and maintenance;
    3. Strengthening capacity of sector institutions in effectively delivering water services focusing on ensuring access to water supply and sanitation services in rural areas, and ensuring sustainability of investments;
    4. Addressing climate impact and water-related disaster risks through the introduction of Watershed Management/Eco-system based DRR and Integrated Risk Management for a resilient risk-informed development.
  1. Strengthening exchange of information and knowledge among donors on identified priority issues:
    1. Serve as a forum for sharing reports, papers and other information and serving as an informal peer review platform for analytical work on identified priority issues;
    2. Serve as a forum for promoting and building sector-wide approaches.
  1. Defining broad areas of synergies and complementarities under the ongoing/planned projects through regular updates/hosting a database of projects and ensuring commitment to the reporting arrangements;
  2. Ensuring systematic linkages with related donor working groups (agriculture, energy, health, etc) and General DCC.
  1.  Roles and membership.

WB and SDC will lead the working group starting from June 2022, and will facilitate the work of the group.   The DRR section of the group will be led by the SDC, and the water section will fall under the leadership of the WB. Members of the WG are expected to nominate focal points of their organizations, provide accurate and up to date contact information of the focal points, participate in the WG meetings and provide information on their projects/activities through the agreed reporting sample. Current list of WG members is included in the Annex 1, which will be updated and confirmed by March 15.

Consultants, Implementing Agencies, project advisors/specialists, private sector and/or NGOs/civil society may also be invited to attend the WG meetings. In this case a prior notice of the WG Secretariat should be sought.

  1.  Frequency of Meetings

The WG will meet every two months to discuss the water agenda, with the coordination process also taking place offline and meetings largely used for decision making and development of agreements. Meetings dedicated to DRR agenda will be held on quarterly basis or will follow an alternative schedule to be agreed with the WG. The WG co-chairs will also be responsible for developing draft agenda (with proposals from the WG members), issuing invitations, hosting, and facilitating meetings, and preparing short minutes of the meetings. Meetings will be conducted in hybrid format to ensure participation of all the WG members. The proposed schedule of meetings for 2023 is included below:

Date/Month Meetings/ Venue
February 14, 2023 First meeting of the Water&CC WG, World Bank Office
February 15, 2023 National Policy Dialogue on Water/IWRM
March 22, 2023 World Water Day and UN2023 Water Conference
April 18, 2023 Second meeting of the Water&CC WG, World Bank Office
May 3, 2023 Meeting on DRR issues, SDC Office
June 14, 2023 Third meeting of the Water&CC WG, World Bank Office
September 5, 2023 Fourth meeting of the Water&CC WG (also covering DRR), World Bank Office
November 14, 2023 Fifth meeting of the Water&CC WG, World Bank Office
December 6, 2023 Meeting on DRR issues, SDC Office

 

  1. Secretariat

The WB will provide support to a secretariat function for the WG (water section). Additionally, the WB in agreement with the SDС will establish a shared platform for exchange of files, database of projects, contacts, etc. The Secretariat opened a new email –  dcc.water.wg@gmail.com, which will be used for establishment of the shared platform accessible to the authorized focal points of the WG members. The email and the shared platform will be transferred along with the chairmanship of the WG.

Annex 1. The list of WG members

  1. ADB – Asian Development Bank
  2. AKDN – Aga Khan Development Network
  3. EBRD – European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  4. EDB – Eurasian Development Bank
    • EFSD – Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development
  1. EU – European Union
  2. FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization
  3. GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
  4. JICA – Japan International Cooperation Agency
  5. KfW – KfW Bankengruppe
  6. OSCE – Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
  7. SCO – Swiss Cooperation Office
  8. UNDP – United Nations Development Programme
  9. UNICEF – United Nations Children Fund
  10. USAID – United States Agency for International Development
  11. WBG – World Bank Group
    • IFC – International Finance Corporation
  1. WFP – World Food Programme
  2. WHO – World Health Organization
  3. ACTED – Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development
  4. OECD – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
  5. Helvetas
  6. Caritas Switzerland
  7. Deutsche Welthungerhilfe

 

[1] This iteration of the ToRs mainly covers the Water and DRR, as the decision on the Climate Change mandate of the group remains with the General DCC.