Turkey has been an active member of UNESCO IHP for 22 years, supporting water-related activities and capacity building. Turkey is represented on the IHP Intergovernmental Council and organizations like the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works and Turkish Water Institute follow IHP activities and cooperate with IHP. These organizations work to further water management, education, and cooperation in Turkey and abroad, such as by providing training to water professionals from over 30 countries and hosting conferences on water and sustainability goals.

1. Activities related to
UNESCO IHP
Dr. Murat Hatipoğlu
IHP NFP ofTurkey

2.  Turkey has been an active member of the UNESCO
IHP for the last 22 years providing full support for
the water related activities and inspired by the
vision of the Program in the water management,
water governance and capacity building fields.

3. Turkey is the member of IHP
Intergovernmental Council
 Turkey was elected at the 37th session and 39th session
of the General Conference in 2013 and 2017
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4.  General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) and Turkish
Water Institute (SUEN) under the Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry of Turkey (MoAF), have been following the UNESCO IHP
activities and continues to cooperate with IHP.
National Focal Point

5. 5
DSI is the primary executive state agency of Turkey for Nations overall
water resources planning, managing, execution and operation. The
main objective of DSI is to develop all water and land resources in
Turkey.
SUEN is a national think tank established to develop national water
policies, provide consultation to decision makers, coordinate between
organizations & institutions and enhance scientific research and
strategic ideas with a focus on creating a common platform for water
management.
The Focal Point is a Committee Member at Turkish
National Commission of UNESCO.

6. MoAF’s vision coincides with the IHP vision on water security
emphasizing the aim to improve water security in response
to local, regional and global challenges.
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IHP-VIII: Water Security
Responses to Local, Regional, and Global Challenges

7.  IHP Region 1 Meeting
 IHP Bureau Meeting
 IHP Intergovernmental Council
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8.  During the last two years, many conferences and
symposiums related to hydrology and its most prevalent
subtopics have been held in order to enhance the
knowledge sharing among the pivotal institutions in both
national and international level.
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9. 4th Istanbul International Water Forum
(IIWF)
Water and Peace
 In this regard, the 4th Istanbul International Water
Forum (IIWF) organised by the MoAF in 10-11 May 2017
with the main theme of Water and Peace
 With the responsibility of drawing global attention to
the needs of millions of people facing the risk of lack of
access to water and sanitation services due to wars in
its region and the world (water security), the 4th IIWF
focused on the
 cooperation opportunities on water as a means of peace,
 challenges of implementation and monitoring of the
water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
 water relief actions and
 water management practices in response to demographic
changes resulting from the global refugee crisis. 9

10. 8th World Water Forum
Brasilia, 18-23 March 2018.
 Turkey coorparates with WWC, and DSI and SUEN are governers at the WWC
 Participated actively in the 8th World Water Forum
 Acted as panelist, speakers and co-coordination of one thematic session
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11. Theme 6 of IHP-VIII
Water Education
 Theme 6 of IHP-VIII is designated to Water Education
 DSI and SUEN transfers and shares knowledge in the field of water and
wastewater nationally and internationally, with the ultimate goal to enable
water professionals to implement sustainable solutions.
 provided trainings to water professionals from over 30 countries especially
African Countries.
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12. National Hydrology Commission of
Turkey (TUHK)
 IHP and National Hydrology Commission of Turkey (TUHK) have close collaboration in Turkey.
 National Hydrology Commission of Turkey (TUHK) is a sub-commission performing within the
Turkish National Geodesy and Geophysics Union (TUJJB) and General Directorate of the State
Hydraulic Works (DSI) is the founder and executive of TUHK, which is the national body of the
International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS).
Two projects have been carried out;
Low Flows and Drought Analysis in Hydrological Basins Project.
 study low flows which are indirectly revealing drought and to determinate drought indices that
directly address drought
Hydrostatistical Streamflow Prediction Model for Ungauged Basins Project.
 create a method of streamflow prediction suitable for practical uses in ungauged basins for flood
control, water resources utilization and management, ecological services, etc.
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13. SDG 6
 During the adoption process of SDGs in 2015, Turkey supported the separate
water goal idea to ensure availability and sustainable management of water
and sanitation for all in the scope of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and put forward all efforts to reach this goal likewise in the
Millennium Development Goals period.
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14. SDG 6
 As a part of the SDG 6, target 6.5 calls for countries to implement integrated water
resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation, as
appropriate.
 The proposed indicator for goal 6.5.2. is assumed to measure progress of cooperative
management of transboundary basins by the developed methodology as “percentage of
transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for transboundary cooperation”.
 UNESCO and UNECE being co-custodian for the monitoring of the SDG indicator 6.5.2. have
decided to organise workshops in order to support Member States for the achievement of
Agenda 2030.
 These workshops organized as follow-up of the recommendations of the UNESCO Member
States at the 56th Session of the Bureau of the UNESCO IHP, considered also by the 23rd
Session of the Intergovernmental Council.
 UNESCO and UNECE have already organized two workshops in Africa and Latin America and
other are planned in other regions.
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15. UNESCO-IHP Regional Water
Cooperation Workshop
19-20 February 2019 in Istanbul
 Most recent work on this subject was held on
19-20 February 2019 in Istanbul as UNESCO-IHP
Regional Water Cooperation Workshop.
 This workshops will also count on the
participation of UN Environment, agency
custodian of SDG indicator 6.5.1., in order to
take into consideration the links between the
two indicators under the Target 6.5.
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16.  The main objective of this meeting is to give the opportunity to participant from
countries mainly located in the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and Central Asia
regions, to share their experiences about transboundary water cooperation and
IWRM and be informed about the results of the first reporting cycle of the
indicators 6.5.2 and 6.5.1 and the following steps to be taken.
 UNESCO-IHP Secretariat as one of the custodian agencies for the SDG indicator
6.5.2 was represented by Dr. Alice Aureli (Chief of Groundwater Systems and
Settlements Section) and Mr. Aurélien Dumont (Project Officer), Mr. Alberto
Hernandez-Salinas (Project Officer) and also Mr. Peter Koefoed Bjørnsen as a
representative of UN Environment attended the workshop.
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17.  The representatives of Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Greece, Jordan,
Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Spain, Tajikistan and Tunisia attended the workshop and
contributed to the discussions around the integrated water resource
management approach and transboundary cooperation. They have cited the
difficulties of the 1st reporting cycle of SDG indicator 6.5.1 and presented
their country results as well as water management practices and
transboundary cooperation in their basins.
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18.  MoAF is following the process of monitoring the SDG indicator 6.5.2 since the
beginning of 1st reporting cycle.
 The Working group from MoAF was established to study the SDG 6.5.2
indicator and give feedback on the reporting methodology and calculation of
SDG 6.5.2 indicator which was not sufficient to reflect real transboundary
cooperation and only addressing “operational transboundary arrangements”
with limited coverage of the world.
 Turkey’s proposal to improve the methodology and cover all efforts on
transboundary cooperation by indicating the progress of its implementation
from low levels to high levels of cooperation, was presented.
 The new proposed structure is similar to template of SDG indicator 6.5.1 to
be applied each transboundary basins by self-assessment methodology with
justification procedure.
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19. Water for Africa
 UNESCO has a long history of
cooperation with Africa and it has
always placed this cooperation as
a core priority.
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20.  To this end, Turkey has undertaken extensive international water aid activities both in-country
and abroad.
 Through different ministerial bodies and NGO’s, water has been supplied to more than 1,5
million people in Africa by means of the bore drilling and water treatment works and
 thousands of water professionals were hosted to be trained in various subjects in water.
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Water for Africa

21.  Turkey has provided technical assistance (e.g. advisory, investigation, detailed
design) and granted technical equipment to many countries, particularly in
Africa, for the sustainable development and use of water resources.
 The Turkish Government has undertaken large-scale hydraulic works as well.
The Ambouli Dam in Djibouti, as a recent example, is being built by the
government with a total cost of €11 million.
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22. Thank you…