Workshop on Drought Management
Tehran, December, 2003
PRESS RELEASE
A three days workshop on Drought Management for the ECO Region was held on 21-23 December, 2003 in the ECO Secretariat, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) jointly organized the workshop. 45 representatives from 8 ECO member countries namely Islamic State of Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kyrgyz Republic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Uzbekistan and from ECO, FAO, UNESCO and ICARDA participated in the workshop.
Recurrent severe droughts in some parts of the ECO region negatively impact the agricultural production and trade of agro-products. ECO Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture held in Islamabad in 2002 identified drought management as one of the priority areas of cooperation for ECO countries and determined the Islamic Republic of Iran as coordinator country for ECO cooperation in this regard.
In the first two days of the Workshop, 22 papers have been presented and discussed on drought related matters. In the third day, there was a field trip to Saveh. In the workshop, a set of recommendation has been adopted and proposals for an ECO Plan of Action have been formulated.
The Workshop, among others recommended the countries to initiate Strategies and Plan of Action for Drought Management and Preparedness Planning, enact appropriate laws and legislations for Drought Mitigation and ensure coordination and collaboration among various governmental institution and ensure a more intense cooperation with international organizations.
The recommendations for Plan of Action include exchange of students/experts for training purposes, exchange of information and data on drought mitigation practices, monitoring and evaluation, providing technical support to the member countries. Furthermore, development of a FAO Technical Cooperation Programme for the ECO region for enhancing national capacity of countries in Drought Management including Drought Early Warning Systems and preparation of “bankable project documents” to be addressed to donors have also been recommended.
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