Establishing cooperation among the Drin Riparians
The overall concept for enhanced cooperation among the Riparians for the management of the Basin was initially discussed by representatives of the competent ministries and other key stakeholders during the International Roundtable on Integrated Management of Shared Lake Basins in South-Eastern Europe, organized under the Petersberg Phase II/Athens Declaration Process and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) IW:LEARN Programme in Ohrid, FYR Macedonia, from 12 to 14 October 2006.
Based on the conclusions of the roundtable, and as a response to the related expression of interest by stakeholders, the “Consultation Meeting on Integrated Management of the extended Drin River Basin” was organized by the Albanian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Water Administration, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Global Water Partnership Mediterranean (GWP-Med), with the financial support of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the German Ministry for Environment, in Tirana, on 24 November 2008. The meeting gave a mandate to the Partners in the Petersberg Phase II/Athens Declaration Process and UNECE to facilitate the establishment of a Shared Vision for the coordinated management of the Basin (Shared Vision).
The Drin Dialogue
The multi-stakeholder process for the establishment of the Shared Vision, the Drin Dialogue, was formally launched during a meeting organized on 1 December 2009 in Podgorica. The meeting brought together representatives of the competent ministries for water resources management of Albania, FYR Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as the existing formal joint lake basin management commissions/committees. It was decided that UNECE and GWP-Med would facilitate the implementation of the Drin Dialogue.
The Drin Core Group was established by the Podgorica meeting as a structure to facilitate communication and cooperation among the Riparians and coordination of the implementation of the Drin Dialogue.
Furthermore, the Podgorica meeting discussed and agreed on the content of the Drin Dialogue, its objectives, activities and timeframe.
The Project in support of the Drin Dialogue
A project supporting the Drin Dialogue ran from 1 May 2010 until 30 November 2011 with the financial support of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Pursuant to the decisions of the Podgorica meeting, the project aimed to develop a Strategic Shared Vision for the sustainable management of the Drin Basin through a structured and coordinated multi-stakeholder consultation process.
The outputs of the project included:
(a) The key issues in the Basin linked with water resources management were identified and briefly analysed;
(b) Key stakeholders at the national and transboundary levels were identified;
(c) The Drin Core Group was set up and functioned throughout the project;
(d) The Drin Dialogue was implemented through national and regional consultation meetings;
(e) A long-term Strategic Shared Vision for the management of the Transboundary Drin Basin was elaborated and agreed upon.
The above outputs were pursued through the:
(a) Preparation of a Situation Analysis;
(b) Organization of the Drin Core Group meetings;
(c) Organization of consultation meetings at the national and transboundary levels.
Drin Dialogue workflow diagram
Access below the agenda, report and other documents related to the Consultation meetings implemented during the Drin Dialogue by clicking on the arrow or pdf icon below..
