DUSHANBE, April 8, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Issues related to enabling environment in Water Sector are being discussed at the 3rd Network Meeting of Stakeholder Organizations on Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation that opened in Dushanbe today.

The Network members have met  for the third time to discuss issues related to the enabling environment in water sector, to track the progress of TajWSS Project funded by SDC and presentations from members of the Network.

According to Ms. Kamilla Zavudinova, Media & Communications Officer of “TajWSS” project, the purpose of the meeting is to present and discuss some of the burning issues related to the enabling environment in WS&S sub-sector.

Most attempts at rehabilitation and construction of water supply systems were unsustainable due to inadequate legal framework, institutional fragmentation, lack of effective approaches for managing water supply and sanitation, lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities among government and non-government members. Inadequate tariff policy, the lack of specialists, and low community interest in the sustainability of water resources are some of the other problems in the WS&S sub-sector.

Tajikistan Water Supply and Sanitation (TajWSS) project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by international agency, Oxfam in Tajikistan.  The project is the first phase of a ten-year program, and will be completed by the end of 2012.  The Network organized under the project umbrella includes representatives of the Government of Tajikistan, donor organizations, local and international NGOs, private sector, civil society, media and other stakeholders that will seek to address sustainability by sharing up-to-date information, best practices, and pilot innovative methods that will feed into the development of policy proposals.