Inter-agency conference on 'Improving regional coordination in managing compound risks in Central Asia' - CARRA

Background

In 2008 UNDP initiated an interagency process of assessing and responding to the regional risks facing Central Asia in response to the severe risks faced by vulnerable populations in Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic during the exceptionally hard winter of 2007/08 following on a regional drought in 2007. The first stage of this process consisted of a meeting of representatives of the international community in Almaty in July 2008 and the preparation of a Central Asia Regional Risk Assessment (CARRA) report published in January 2009. The goal of the 2008 meeting and of the initial report was to issue “a call to action, and a framework within which concrete, agency-level actions can be developed.” A key objective of CARRA was to achieve enhanced sharing of information and improved coordination in the assessment and response to compound risks, between the UN as well as other international agencies at the country and regional levels in Central Asia.

This first CARRA report looked at the degree and implications of water, energy and food insecurity in Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic; developed proposals to improve governments’ and international agencies’ preparedness to respond to these insecurities; explored the prospects for regional cooperation in addressing these shared risks; considered options for monitoring hydrological and meteorological trends in the region and the creation of a regional early warning system; and explored how to develop more effective links between disaster prevention, humanitarian response, early recovery and longer-term development programming.

A second CARRA report, a "Framework for Action" was prepared by UNDP in 2009, and discussed at a second interagency meeting in Almaty in July 2009. The report provided an update on the rapidly changing climatic and global economic crisis conditions facing Central Asia and an assessment of the lessons learned with the governments’ and international agencies’ response. The meeting reached the following conclusions:

* The drought conditions facing Central Asia in 2008 had abated, but winter energy shortages/ insecurities were likely to persist.
* Risk monitoring and early warning systems needed to be improved further, with the UN taking a lead in this area.
* While there are good examples of regional cooperation in the water sector, there are continuing risks associated with non-cooperation among the Central Asian countries.
* Cooperation on the development of large-scale hydropower projects may offer important long-term economic opportunities, but in the short term it is essential to address energy shortages through interventions in energy conservation, renewable energy and small and medium hydro projects.
* More attention and cooperation is required on agricultural and rural development as a means of improving food security and poverty reduction. It was also stressed that social protection systems had an important role to play in cushioning the impact of disasters and economic shocks, including in protecting vulnerable population groups from energy tariff adjustments.
* The integration of humanitarian and development approaches remains a critical challenge.
* Participants welcomed the opportunity for a regular and systematic update and exchange of information through the CARRA process and for enhanced donor coordination at the regional level in order to ensure consistent support to governments in addressing short and longer term development challenges. They also noted that CARRA had provided the country offices in Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic with the background information and evidence to move ahead with putting in place and improving monitoring systems. In the case of Kyrgyzstan, CARRA assisted in launching a flash appeal to raise funds to meet some of the immediate human security challenges, and provided a rallying call for the UN team to push forward with introducing the one-UN approach in the country.

While the first two CARRA meetings discussed options for institutional follow up, no systematic approach was subsequently adopted to ensure effective implementation. Therefore, the third CARRA meeting in April 2011 will aim to revisit the question of what is an appropriate institutional approach and how to ensure effective and consistent follow-up.