Finnish water sector organisations work together with their partners to solve water related health and economic development issues in alignment with internationally agreed policies through FinWaterWEI – The Programme for Finland’s Water Sector Support to the EECCA Countries under the Wider Europe Initiative.
The overall objective of the programme is to ensure sustainable water management in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. FinWaterWEI’s purpose is to reduce water disputes inside and between countries and to improve water supply and sanitation through improved education, increased investment and better alignment of water management with the UNECE Water Convention and its Water and Health Protocol.
Along with the needs of the partner countries the programme is based on Finland’s Development Policy Programme, UNECE legal instruments on water, the EU Water Initiative and UN Millenium Development Goals on water.
Themes
Themes of the programme are:
- Water and health
- Transboundary waters
- Monitoring, reporting and assessment
- Climate change
- Dam safety
Finnish cooperation in the EECCA countries
Finland’s development cooperation with Central Asia, South Caucasus, and Eastern Europe dates back to the mid-1990s. Over the years Finland has supported initiatives and projects developed and managed by Finland itself and by several international institutions.
Finland has considerable expertise in sectors relating to water and its management, such as solutions based on advanced technical skills and integrated planning processes. For example, Finland has had a leading role both as financier and expert in the implementation of UN's Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UNECE Water Convention).
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Kyrgyzstan, the Tien-Shan Mountain range. The gradual disappearance
and retreat of high altitude glaciers poses a threat for the steady hydrological cycle, causing periods of water insufficiency. Photo Ari Mäkelä.
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