5th Session of the 15th Round of the Iranian National Committee for IHP (with the presence of Dr Blanca Jimenez Cisneros)- 5 December 2016, Tehran, IR of Iran- Ministry of Energy

December 7, 2016 nazaninshaghaghi (Admin) 0 Comment

On 5 December 2016, the Iranian Ministry of Energy hosted the 5^th session of the 15^th round of the Iranian National Committee for IHP from 8:30 to 10:00 am.

Attendees:

Mr (Eng.) Hossein Ghafori; International Centre on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures
Mr (Eng.) Majid Labbaf Khaniki; International Centre on Qanats and Historic Hydrualic Structures

Mr (Dr.) Mohammad Hossein Sarrafzadeh; University of Tehran – UNESCO Chair on Water Reuse

Ms (Dr.) Maryam Shafaee; Expert in Water Planning, Ministry of Energy
Ms (Eng.) Bahiyeh Jafari; Head, Group of Planning and Strategic Research and International Cooperation, Ministry of Energy

Ms (Dr.) Sanaz Moghim; Director, Outreach and International programmes of the UNESCO Chair in Water and Environment Management for Sustainable Cities, Sharif University of Technology

Mr (Dr.) Ahmad Abrishamchi; Professor at Sharif University of Technology and Chair-holder, UNESCO Chair in Water and Environment Management for Sustainable Cities
Mr Emad Malekinia; Deputy Head, Bureau for Education, Research and Technology, Ministry of Energy

Mr (Eng.) Sayyari; Deputy Head for Planning and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Energy

Mr (Eng.) Masoud Alaei; Director, Soil, Water and Industries Headquarters, Ministry of Agriculture

Ms Sedighe Modaressi Tabatabae; Expert in Environmental Affairs, Department of Environment

Mr (Eng.) Rahim Meidani; Vice Minister for Water and Wastewater, Ministry of Energy

Ms (Eng.) Niloofar Sadeghi; Programme Officer for Natural Sciences, UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office

Dr Blanca Jimenez-Cisneros; Director of the Division of Water Sciences at UNESCO and Secretary of the International Hydrological Programme

Dr Mahin Gazani; Head, Natural Sciences Department, Iranian National Commission for UNESCO and Secretary of the Iranian National Committee for IHP

Ms Mehrnaz Pirouznik; Programme Assistant for Sciences, Iranian National Commission for UNESCO

Dr Seyyed Ali Chavoshian; Director, Regional Centre for Urban Water Management

Agenda:

Welcome speech to Dr Jimenez Cisneros by the Chair of the Session (Dr Gazani) and the Chair of the Iranian National Committee for IHP (Eng. Meidani);
Country report on water;
Brief report of the Future activities of the Iranian National Committee for IHP by Dr Gazani, the Secretary of the national committee;
Suggestions by Dr Chavoshian, Director of the RCUWM, regarding Iran’s cooperation with the International Hydrological Programme and the Division of Water Sciences;
Speech by Dr Blanca Jimenez Cisneros on IHP VIII and related subjects;
A brief history on Qanats and the activities of the International Centre of Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures;
Report of the Pakistan International Conference on Asia Pacific Policy Dialogue on Water, Energy and Food Security for Poverty Alleviation in Dryland Regions by Ms Niloofar Sadeghi, Programme Officer for Natural Sciences, UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office
Question and answer.

The discussions focused on:

The necessity of a shift from structural measures to non-structural measures in implementing water-related projects;
The necessity of appropriate budgeting in water research and project implementation;
The necessity of linking Iran with other countries, to create a platform whereby Iran is linked to the international community and her activities gain more visibility;
The necessity to transfer Iranian water knowledge to the countries of the Tehran cluster, the region and the world, specifically on Qanats and groundwater management (requested by Pakistan at the recent International Conference on Asia Pacific Policy Dialogue on Water, Energy and Food Security for Poverty Alleviation in Dryland Regions, 23-25 Nov. 2016);
The necessity to promote transboundary water resources management (under this item, the organisation of a training workshop on transboundary water management in Iran was suggested)
The necessity to establish a water task force specifically for the West Asian region, in view of the water commonalities in the Region (proposal was put forth by Dr Gazani and accepted by Dr Jimenez Cisneros, who also suggested to have sub0regions established at the IHP-IGC and consequently agreed to Iran hosting the meeting of the UNESCO chairs in Water);
The necessity to put in place appropriate action for generating knowledge from research findings in water sciences;
Proposal to organise an international symposium to join science and policy towards sustainable groundwater management, in cooperation with UNESCO (put forth by the UNESCO Chair in Water and Environment Management for Sustainable Cities);
Proposal to run a competition among university students, internationally, requesting their greenest ideas for achieving a more sustainable world (put forth by the UNESCO Chair in Water and Environment Management for Sustainable Cities);
Proposal to have Iran host the meeting on the UNESCO chairs in water (put forth by the Chair-holder of the UNESCO Chair in Water Re-use);
The necessity of Iran’s candidacy for membership in IHP-IGC (proposed by the Secretary of the Iranian National Committee for IHP, Dr Gazani);
Questions asked of and proposals directed to Dr Jimenez Cisneros by the Director of RCUWM, Dr Chavoshian:

Questions:

What does “contribution to IHP Phase VIII” mean? What do you think about the contribution of the Iranian National Committee for IHP?
What is expected of the national committees for IHP in general and of the Iranian National Committee for IHP, in particular?
Quantity vs quality? How about coordination among Centres and Chairs?
“Narrow and deep” vs “wide and networking”?

Suggestions:

We have to try to be more visible for sure. But, please ask your team in Paris to see us.
- We are not high-income, but we are not also low-income
- UNESCO receives an exceptional attention in Iran compared to any other UN Agencies and IOs.
The same goes to UNESCO- Jakarta Office
- West and central Asia are part of AP too!
We are expecting more support to UTCO

Proposals:

Improving exposure of IDI in the next two years;
Publication suggested by NWWEC for Urban Water management in arid and semi-arid areas;
IHP and IWA (Theme 4 of IHP Phase VIII);
Developing ToT materials for Water and Media and making it a flagship activity;
More exchange between Iran and IHP bureau (e.g. WWAP or IHP in WWFn);
“Groundwater” and “Human Settlements Water Supply”.

Responses by Dr Blanca Jimenez Cisneros:

The activities of the Iranian National Committee for IHP are visible in Paris;
Supported the suggestion for Iran’s candidacy in IHP-IGC and asked for the contribution of Iran to the IHP programme by proposing the necessity of allocating at least two expected outcomes to IHP (one for IHP and the other for WWAP) in the upcoming 39C/5, which has considered only two MLAs for Natural Sciences and only one expected outcome.
The need to strengthen ties between the UNESCO water family;
UNESCO’s initiative for networking between category II centres;
UNESCO’s initiative to organise a meeting of the UNESCO chairs in water;
UNESCO’s initiative to organise a meeting between UNESCO chairs in water and UNESCO category II centres in water;
UNESCO’s initiative to develop the IHP National Committee Kit;
The necessity to pool governmental support;
Offering greater support to Iran from UNESCO’s side;
The need for greater visibility for the UNESCO chairs and centres;
To maintain the International Centre for Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures the way it is, being unique in the region and the world;
The necessity to create a coordination mechanism between the UNESCO Chairs in water;
To stop proliferating the UNESCO Chairs and category II centres in water;
Proposing to have Ms Niloofar Sadeghi act as the focal point for category II water centres in Iran;
Proposing to allocate budget to the UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office, specifically for IHP;
The need to enhance the visibility of UTCO;
The need for governmental support for translating IHP documents for distribution in the region;
Proposal to aid Iran in IDI and the International Water Association’s (IWA) prize.

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