National Water Resources Management Project Uzbekistan: External Review Phase 2 / Design Phase 3
Location
Uzbekistan (country-wide)
project period
December 2022 – December 2023
client
SDC – Embassy of Switzerland in Uzbekistan
Services provided
Partner organisation
Building on the successes of its regional Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Project in the Fergana Valley (2002-12), SDC launched from on 2013 National Water Resources Management (NWRM) Projects in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and lastly Uzbekistan. Against this backdrop, SDC has been supporting the NWRM Project in Uzbekistan for seven years (2018-2023) and committed to continue this effort over the subsequent four years (2024-2027). Fundamentally, the intervention aims to improve the livelihoods and the resilience of the country’s rural population through integrated water resources management. The External Review conducted by Skat Consulting established, that based on an effective partnership with the Ministry of Water Resources and other key stakeholders at national and local level, the Project has been particularly functional in advancing the Uzbek water sector reform and its enabling environment, whilst promoting efficient and sustainable use of scarce water resources in agriculture. Skat Consulting’s ensuing design support resulted in a Phase 3 of the Project that is devoted to the further augmentation, effective consolidation, and ultimate institutionalisation of the achievements thus far. Over the coming years, a qualitative leap “upwards” of the intervention will be reached by aiming at a full-fledged IWRM approach, embracing all uses of water and the respective multi-actors’ space. Newly, it will foster prominently connectedness, exchange, and collaboration among knowledge bearers at national level and in the region.
The External Review Skat Consulting was entrusted with successfully assessed the achievement of the project’s objectives and drew lessons that improve the sustainability of the benefits from interventions and aid in the overall enhancement of Swiss climate-resilient water for food and life portfolio. It resulted in a:
- Review of the results of Phase II of the NWRM Project in Uzbekistan in terms of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability;
- Assessment of the alignment of Project interventions with the ongoing water sector reform in Uzbekistan, as well as Switzerland’s cooperation program, especially with the regional cooperation goals;
- Identification of key relevant elements and potentials for the exit phase in the current water sector context and in line with Switzerland’s new cooperation program;
- A set of recommendations for the exit phase to ensure coherence and synergy potential with ongoing Swiss interventions within the Water Infrastructure and Climate Change domain in Uzbekistan.
Based on the findings of the External Review and further in-depth analysis of stakeholder engagement in Uzbekistan, Skat Consulting successfully support the design of the Phase III of the Project, (i) addressing the needs and priorities of the nation authorities (ii) in line with the ongoing water sector reform in Uzbeki-stan; and (iii) coherent with the Swiss Cooperation Program 2022-25 for Central Asia. Further, consultant compiled the Project Document for the next phase as per SDC guidelines. Additionally, the consultants provided thematic backstopping to the Embassy of Switzerland in Uzbekistan in its bilateral cooperation efforts as well as regionally in its function as the regional Water Hub. This resulted in recommendations on how to better link certain elements of NWRMP with other bilateral programs in the national/regional WICC domain, how certain identified gaps in the current programming could lead to new interventions in the future, and how to improve further linking of national and regional portfolios in Switzerland’s WICC domain.