Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A regular meeting of the Sectoral Working Group (SWG) on improving the efficiency of donor assistance in the water resources management sector has been held today.

The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of water sector reforms, particularly, the Governments vision towards the Water Strategy 2021-2023, priorities and challenges. 

Water sectors donors also presented their ongoing programs and priority issues for the future in order to ensure complementarity and avoiding duplication of planned activities within the framework of ongoing projects in the water sector of Uzbekistan, as well as developing specific measures and improving mechanisms for coordinating joint activities and long-term partnership in the effective use of water resources.

The water sector donors coordination platform creates a dialogue between the government and development partners aimed at ensuring effective and coordinated work in the sector. From this year Switzerland is co-chairing this group. 

Representatives of ADB, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, EBRD, EU Delegations, GIZ, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Islamic Development Bank, JICA, KOICA, SDC, UNDP, USAID and the World Bank were invited to the regular meeting of the SWG. 

The government's strategic views on climate change adaptation measures for water resources management, long-term and short-term investment planning in the development of water infrastructure and the introduction of public-private partnership mechanisms in the use and maintenance of water infrastructure were considered.

The participants were also debriefed on current activities in the water sector and donors' plans for the future. As a result, a number of possible directions and mechanisms were identified and proposals were developed to improve the coordination of donor activities, including the development of a projects database and the creation of thematic working groups at the technical level.