Back to success stories

Enhanced institutional capacity for water resources management in Afghanistan

70% Complete

Building on institutional commitment and demand-driven training for maximum impact

Enhanced institutional capacity

In its 2019 draft water management strategy, the Government of Afghanistan mentioned the need for capacity enhancement in its water sector. Having crafted a multi-stakeholder partnership across ministries, agencies and academic institutions, the Strengthening Water Resources Management in Afghanistan (SWaRMA) initiative took a baseline capacity self-assessment to understand partners’ desired water resources management capacities including strategic and institutional support mechanisms; service provision across knowledge management, data access, and other service functions; and networking and partnerships.

Over 2019, SWaRMA conducted more than 27 events with 190 participants, specifically encouraging women’s participation. A dedicated demand-driven series of events set up expectations for result-based activities, and institutional commitment and ownership were ensured from the participating agencies. The contiguous training series created synergies among the ministries, agencies and departments, operated on principles of knowledge co-creation and co-learning, and were supported through continuous follow up, ensuring implementation of the learning. Further support was provided through a resource book on integrated river basin management which provided a conceptual framework to implement water resources management and through the regional Upper Indus Basin Network (UIBN) which provided stakeholders science-based knowledge sharing opportunities and exposure to learn from other basin countries.

An end-line capacity self-assessment and tracer survey on institutional and individual capacity enhancement reported participants’ increased knowledge, confidence, and use of material learned. Participants learned intermediate to advanced level knowledge. Although results varied with individual organizations according to the level of support, many institutions reported increased overall capacity in water resources management. This is evidenced also through the establishment of a benchmark glacier for longterm cryosphere monitoring, the start of mass balance measurement for the Pir-Yakh glacier, the installation of an automatic weather station, two pilots of telemetry-based flood early warning systems, and the wider adoption of the J2000 hydrological model. Institutional progress on these fronts will enable planners and professionals within these nodal agencies to contribute to better understanding of climate change dynamics and water needs within Afghanistan.

Institutional progress on these fronts will enable planners and professionals within these nodal agencies to contribute to better understanding of climate change dynamics and water needs within Afghanistan.
9 Jul 2021 SERVIR-HKH
Monitoring cryosphere resources in Afghanistan

Despite the significant contributions ...

ICIMOD Mountain Prize 2019

Awards for preserving culture and achieving development preserving culture and achieving development

Knowledge hub proposed for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Koshi basin

As part of a wider effort between Nepal, India, and China to strengthen disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the Koshi ...

Planning for the Future

Modelling tools determine future water availability and demand and have the potential to help planners and decision makers

Participatory watershed management in eastern Nepal

Based on long-term commitments through a joint action research project we undertook with the Dhankuta Municipality ...

2 Dec 2019 HI-RISK
Real-Time Flood Data and Science Products Support Flood Monitoring in Nepal

Floods are a major natural disaster aggravating poverty in the Indus and Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basins, which is home to over ...

The Power of Working Across Boundaries

Research suggests that a cooperative, river basin approach to water resources management can be beneficial to all countries In the Koshi ...

Working to Avoid a Disaster

A project along the China-Nepal border aims to reduce the risk of disaster and to become an example of cross-border ...