©FAO/Gagik Harutyunyan

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with the Government of Armenia organized a two-day technical workshop on 10-11 July in Yerevan. Participating water resource management policy and statistics specialists learned to meet the challenges deriving from the nationalization of the 2030 Agenda.

The workshop aimed at improving the knowledge of methodologies for the evaluation of respective indicators, as well as better understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework and reporting process. It served as a platform for effectively contributing to the implementation and monitoring of water resource-related Sustainable Development Goals at country level.

Among the participants were representatives from the Government of Armenia, Statistical Committee, relevant development agencies, civil society organizations and academia.

Responsible management of water resources is essential for the efforts and actions needed to ensure sustainable and equitable development for all, and a better knowledge of water resources and their use is fundamental in order to have the instruments for defining and implementing appropriate policies.

Participants held active discussion on water accounts practices applied in Armenia and went through the data validation and quality assurance of water resource data collected and computed by state and non-state institutions.

''Improving water-use efficiency and reducing water stress is very important in ensuring water availability for all in the future,'' said Riccardo Biancalani, FAO project coordinator. ''In Armenia, agriculture accounts for about 84 percent of water withdrawals, highlighting the importance of improved water usage in agriculture essential to alleviate water stress in other sectors, and to avoid water scarcity other countries had to face recently.''

FAO is working with countries to ensure that water use in agriculture becomes more efficient, productive, equitable and environmentally friendly. This involves producing more food with less water, building resilience of farmer communities to cope with floods and droughts, and applying clean water technologies that protect the environment. FAO also supports countries to monitor efficiency and level of stress of water use, develop their economies, and ensure that water resources support ecosystems and will still be available for future generations.

This workshop was part of FAO’s efforts to help Member Nations achieve and monitor SDG targets. In particular, it is framed by the FAO project helping the Ministry of Economy in Sustainable Development Goals implementation and monitoring.