Michael Vardon United Nations Statistics Division

1. Towards a Global Implementation Plan for SEEAWRegional Workshop on Water Accounting Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic16-18 June 2007 Michael Vardon United Nations Statistics Division

2. Developing a plan for implementation • The UN Statistical Commission asked UNSD to develop a global implementation plan for SEEAW and present it in 2008 • 34 countries have requested assistance from the UNSD for implementing water accounts • Current resources for assistance are limited • Need to use them carefully • Identify and seek additional resources • A 3-5 year implementation plan is envisaged

3. Elements to plan • Work Regionally • Integrating and coordinating with existing programmes and activities • Develop toolkits/training materials • Seek additional resources

4. Working regionally • Bring countries together in groups to create regional networks • Hold workshops targeted at national statistical offices and water management departments • Introduce SEEAW to high level officials to highlight the benefits and identify key questions • Provide workshops for the implementers of water accounting

5. ECA Botswana Burkina Faso Morocco Mozambique Namibia South Africa Tanzania Tunisia ECE Armenia Bulgaria Georgia Israel Ukraine Turkey ESCWA Bahrain Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria UAE Yemen UN regional grouping ECLAC • Antigua and Barbuda • Bahamas • Bolivia • Chile • Colombia • Cuba • Dominican Republic • Guatemala • Jamaica • Mexico • Panama • Peru • Suriname • Trinidad and Tobago ESCAP • China • India • Indonesia • Korea (Republic) • Mongolia • Nepal • Philippines

6. Integrating and coordinating with existing programmes • Coordinate with existing initiatives and other agencies. E.g. • Eurostat, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, OECD, UNEP • Global Water Partnership- UN Water • UNDP – CAP-NET • IWRM Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting • Med Stat II (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia)

7. Harmonize data collections • Harmonize international questionnaires with SEEAW (already mostly the case for OECD/Eurostat and UNSD questionnaires) • With the agreement of countries reduce the need for duplicate reporting by sharing data between international organizations

8. Developing toolkits and training materials • Manual on the Compilation of Water Accounts and Statistics • Researching particular issues (e.g. transforming data between different spatial boundaries) • Contributing to the development of formal training courses (e.g. UNESCO-IHE) • Promoting SEEAW in the user community

9. Identifying additional resources and funding • Identifying additional expertise which could be made available to countries or to UNSD for the development of material (any volunteers?) or participation in workshops • Keep a eye out for funding opportunities

10. UNSD Work for 2007 • Development of a Global Implementation Strategy for SEEAW • Development of the Manual for the Compilation of Water Accounts and Statistics • Harmonisation of international data collections on water • Meetings and workshops • Direct country assistance for a limed number of countries

11. UNSD Work for 2007: Meetings • Workshop on Environment-Economic Approaches for Medstat II countries (Luxembourg, February 2007) • London Group on Environmental Accounting (South Africa. March 2007) • Expert Group Meeting on Environmental Accounts for ESCWA region (Egypt. June 2007) • Workshop on Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water for ELAC region (Dominican Republic. July 2007) • Course on SEEAW at the UNESCO-IHE (The Netherlands, September 2007) • Expert Group Meeting on Water Accounting and Statistics (USA. December) • Workshop on Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water for ESCAP region (2008) • Workshop on Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water for SADC region (2008) • Workshop on Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water for Eastern Europe/Western Asia (2008)

12. UNSD Work for 2007: Country assistance Direct country assistance • Namibia (April 2007) • South Africa (March 2007) • Jordan (June 2007) • Dominican Republic (July 2007) • China (August 2007)

13. What can I do? • Become an active part of your regional network • Develop a plan for implementing SEEAW in your country • Start compiling pilot accounts • Contribute to the development of material on implementation • Look for ways to promote SEEAW in the producer and user communities • Identify funding opportunities • Keep each other informed of activity and developments related to water accounting. E.g. • Technical assistance provided or requested • Interesting policy uses or analyses • Meetings, conferences, etc where water accounting may be relevant (and promoted)

14. Questions to consider • Is the approach suggested appropriate? • Where should UNSD focus their efforts? • What would you like to see in the global implementation plan? • Over what time is implementation realistic in your country? • What assistance would help you most?

15. Contact details Michael Vardon Adviser on Environmental-Economic Accounting United Nations Statistics Division New York 10017 USA Room DC2 1532 Phone: +1 917 367 5391 Fax: +1 917 363 1374 Email: vardon@un.org