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KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND DIALOGUE SERIES

Elevating river basin management and cooperation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region: The Indus River basin

Venue

Zoom

Date & Time

16 August 2022

About the event

With the Australian Water Partnership (AWP), we are implementing the project, ‘Elevating river basin governance and cooperation in the HKH region’, with the aim to strengthen transboundary river basin management arrangements and enhance cooperation between the major river basins with headwaters originating in the HKH region.

As part of the project, we are organising a series of three semi-structured knowledge exchange dialogues, with one dialogue for each of the three focus basins – Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra River basins. This dialogue will focus on the Indus River basin.

The project will also be producing basin assessment reports for the Brahmaputra, Ganges, and Indus basins, describing emerging practices for overcoming barriers to effective and inclusive transboundary river basin management and climate challenges, and providing recommendations for strengthening river basin cooperation and resilience.

 

Objectives

  • Share practical examples of enhanced basin management (decision-making processes, tools, policies, and best practices) from across and beyond the HKH region that support improved transboundary river basin management within individual basins. This may include exemplary groups and collaborations such as committees and commissions.
  • Stimulate forward-looking discussions on further potential opportunities for collaboration to enhance river basin management, in support of ICIMOD as an enabler of the HKH Call to Action (especially Action 1 – Regional cooperation).

 

Partners and resource persons

Ganges River basin                     Aither and Philippus Wester, ICIMOD

Brahmaputra River basin          Institute for Study and Development Worldwide (IFSD) and Neera Shrestha Pradhan, ICIMOD

Indus River basin                        eWater and Arun Bhakta Shrestha, ICIMOD

 

Tentative agenda

Time (NPT) Session Speaker/panellists
09:30–09:40 Welcome and introduction Pema Gyamtsho, Director General, ICIMOD

Sarah Ransom, General Manager, AWP

09:40–10:00 Setting the context for the knowledge exchange dialogue Huw Pohlner, Associate Director, Aither

Russell Rollason, International Development Advisor, eWater

10:00–11:00 Panel I: Information and knowledge sharing to identify national-scale priorities, policies, practices, and barriers for river basin management

Panellists:

Jiang Tong, Chief Scientist, China Meteorological Administration

Mohammad Naim Eqrar, Chair, Upper Indus Basin Network

Muhammad Ashraf, Chairperson, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources

AP Dimri, Director, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism

Moderator: Arun Shrestha, Regional Programme Manager, River Basins and Cryosphere, ICIMOD

Discussant: Aisha Khan, Chief Executive, Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change

11:00–11:15 Break
11:15–12:15 Panel II: Opportunities for strengthening transboundary river basin management in the Indus basin

Panellists:

Simi Kamal, Chairperson, Hisaar Foundation

Sanjay Gupta, Strategy and Policy Advisor, Independent Consultant

HE Felicity Volk, Australian Ambassador to Nepal

Moderator: Trudy Green, Executive Manager, eWater
12:15–12:25 Summary of outcomes Russell Rollason, International Development Advisor, eWater
12:25–12:30 Closing remarks and next steps Arun Shrestha, ICIMOD

Rohan Kent, Program Lead, AWP