The National Dialogue on Water Policy has resumed its activities in Turkmenistan after a long break that lasted since 2016.
During its previous phase, the dialogue supported the country’s accession in 2012 to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) and contributed to the adoption of the Water Code of Turkmenistan on 15 October 2016. The National Dialogue on Water Policy provides a platform for continuing the development of international legal and legislative frameworks for integrated water resources management in the country. It also promotes coordinated water governance by drawing on the outcomes of discussions among experts representing various sectors.
On 22 June 2026, an expert dialogue was held in Ashgabat, bringing together representatives of key ministries and the State Committee on Water Economy of Turkmenistan, UN agencies, and international financial institutions. The discussions focused on the Foresight Toolkit, which assesses the impacts of different water scarcity scenarios on the food security, water and energy nexus, as well as employment and livelihoods, social protection, biodiversity, and land degradation. The toolkit enables the planning and implementation of adaptation measures in relevant sectors based on forecasting.
Following the expert discussions, the National Dialogue on Water Policy convened on 23 June 2026, with the participation of representatives from key ministries and national research institutions responsible for water resources management. Mr. Durdy Gendjiyev, Chairman of the State Committee on Water Economy of Turkmenistan, noted that the relaunch of the inter-agency and cross-sectoral platform on water policy had been supported by several UN agencies.
I would like to highlight the high level of cooperation with all UN agencies, among which the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe takes a special role. UNECE is the main organizer of today’s meeting. This is also the result of the support provided by the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan with which we are currently undertaking extensive work on water and land resources management, biodiversity conservation, and environmental protection.»
Durdy Gendjiyev,
The UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan, Mr. Dmitriy Shlapachenko, presented the country’s progress towards accession to the Protocol on Water and Health to the Water Convention. At the end of 2025, a national baseline analysis on water, sanitation, hygiene and health was completed. He noted that the review of the legislative and institutional framework, as well as key thematic issues, could serve as a basis for Turkmenistan to establish intersectoral targets under the Protocol on Water and Health.
Dmitriy Shlapachenko
Regarding the Water Code, adopted in 2016, national expert on water and environmental law Mr. Yolbars Kepbanov informed participants that it had been accompanied by the adoption of the Law on Land Reclamation and amendments to the laws governing dayhan associations and dayhan farms. He also emphasized the need to develop secondary legislation under the Water Code, including regulations on river basin management and basin councils, water users’ associations, the transfer of irrigation networks to entrepreneurs and dayhan farms and associations, the maintenance of the national water cadastre, as well as methodologies for introducing differentiated water tariffs and for climate change adaptation in the water sector.
Ms. Tamara Kutonova, representative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Secretariat on Water Convention, told participants non the opportunities for further support to the National Dialogue on Water Policy in Turkmenistan under the Water-Energy-Land Nexus Project (IKI Nexus Project).
Mrs. Tamara Kutonova, NPD Program Manager, UNECE Secretariat on Water Convention
Several organizations are involved in the implementation of this project, including SIC ICWC (Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination), the EBRD, FAO, and the OECD. Each organization contributes its own expertise and mandate. Under this project, UNECE is working in five key areas: regional cooperation, green economy and nature-based solutions, sustainable small hydropower, and water and energy efficiency.”
Tamara Kutonova,
The National Dialogue on Water Policy meeting in Ashgabat was organized by the State Committee on Water Economy of Turkmenistan, with substantive support from the UNECE Secretariat on Water Convention and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and with financial support from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Government of Germany.
