8th Regional Strategic Committee (RSC) meeting of the Upper Indus Basin Network

Agenda

About the meeting

ICIMOD, as the secretariat for the Upper Indus Basin Network (UIBN), is organising the 8th Regional Strategic Committee (RSC) meeting on 29 July 2024 as per the decision of the last RSC meeting in December 2023. The RSC meets biannually to discuss the progress, priorities, challenges, and opportunities of the country chapters and explore avenues for regional cooperation. The RSC aims to align the strategic direction of the network with evolving needs and priorities, ensuring it remains fit for purpose. The primary objective of the UIBN is to promote science-based regional cooperation and collaboration among the riparian countries.

Objectives:

• Review and update the progress and planned activities within each country chapter, including their respective technical working groups (TWGs) and the UIBN.
• work plan and discuss the scoping report for the Indus Basin Assessment and prepare a workplan for the assessment.
• Discuss the details and arrangements for the next RSC meeting and the 5^th Regional UIBN Annual Meeting in November in China.

Background

The Upper Indus Basin (UIB) shared by Afghanistan, China, India, and Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change impacts considering the large downstream dependence on the upstream for water resources. The UIBN was established in 2014 and expanded in 2018 to all the riparian countries by key stakeholders from these countries. UIBN is a voluntary and neutral knowledge and research network which aims to foster coordination among the stakeholders in research related to climate, water, cryosphere, hazards and vulnerability, and adaptation. It plays an important role in bringing together representatives of relevant government and non-government organisations, academia and policy makers to promote a shared understanding of regional challenges and opportunities and joint solutions to deal with the effects of climate change on water resources, water-induced hazards, and upstream/downstream linkages.

More on UIBN: https://www.icimod.org/initiative/about-uibn/