Azerbaijan: Modern laboratories, clean water, healthy future
EUWI+ provides laboratory equipment to detect industrial chemicals and pesticides in water for the newly renovated water laboratories in Baku, Gazakh and Beylagan.
From left to right: Alexander Zinke, EUWI+ project leader of the EU Member State Consortium, Kestutis Jankauskas, Ambassador and Head of EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, Mukhtar Babayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Alexander Bayerl, Austrian Ambassador in Azerbaijan and Zacharie Gross, Ambassador of France
Through the recent technological upgrade and renovation, Azerbaijan authorities now conduct state-of-the-art water analysis. As a result, more pollutants can be monitored and subsequently managed with greater precision, which advance the protection of water and river basins in the region. The new devices were provided by the European Union in the framework of the European Union Water Initiative Plus for Eastern Partnership Countries (EUWI+). In the previous months Azerbaijan laboratory experts have been trained on laboratory standards and water quality monitoring by European experts, among them water experts of the Umweltbundesamt, the Environment Agency Austria.
During the water laboratory opening, a high-Level panel informs on recent developments regarding water policy and integrated water management in Azerbaijan. Students from the National University of Azerbaijanwill visit the new laboratory facilities and conduct environmental analysis of Kura river water together with laboratory staff.
European Water Initiative Plus: Water resource management in the six countries
Launched in September 2016 for a duration of four years, the European Union Water Initiative plus for the Eastern Partneship programme (EUWI+) is one of the biggest policy dialogue and technical support commitments of the European Union to the water sector in the Eastern Partner countries. The progamme supports the six partner countries (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) to align their legislation with European Union's policy on water management, with a focus on transboundary rivers. It provides support to the development of a long-term vision of water sector reforms in the Partner Countries. The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and an EU member states consortium comprising the Austrian Environment Agency (Austria) and the International Office for Water (France).
