The World Bank Groupʻs Board of Executive Directors approved a project to support transboundary water cooperation across Central Asia. It will help countries attract additional investment in water management and conservation and strengthen their collective capacity to manage shared water resources. Around 40 million people across Central Asia are expected to benefit from the project, directly or indirectly, because of improved regional water management.
Across the countries of Central Asia, effective management of transboundary water resources has posed ongoing challenges, including the deterioration of aging water infrastructure, weak regional institutions for water and energy cooperation, and limited data sharing among the countries in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins. The World Bank Groupʻs $20 million grant to the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea will help address these issues through the implementation of the Central Asia Water Efficiency Cooperation Project (CAWEC).
More frequent droughts, floods, and extreme weather are further compounding these structural weaknesses. For example, glacier surface area in the region has declined by 30 percent over the past 60 years, affecting water availability. Moreover, limited cooperation among national water systems creates inefficiencies that are estimated to cost the region over $4.5 billion annually, despite substantial untapped gains from better coordination in operating shared water infrastructure and regional digital platforms.
“Over the medium to long term, economic growth and job prospects in Central Asia will depend on the sustainable management of shared water resources. This new World Bank Group-financed project, which is part of a multiphase program to improve water-use efficiency and benefit national economies and millions of people across the region, will bring Central Asian countries closer together in addressing critical shared water challenges and strengthening regional water cooperation”, says Najy Benhassine, World Bank Division Director for Central Asia.
The Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (EC IFAS), a regional intergovernmental organization, will oversee CAWEC project implementation in close coordination with participating IFAS countries.
By 2031, the project will allow EC IFAS to prepare up to six transboundary water infrastructure projects involving two or more Central Asian countries to attract additional investment in irrigation modernization, water conservation and storage, and coordinated management of shared water resources.
The project will also invest in digitizing water accounting and modernizing information systems in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins, including training for up to 100 staff members from regional water management organizations. Additionally, it will strengthen the capacity of regional water institutions and promote knowledge exchange, professional development, and research across countries participating in the project. ///nCa, 23 July 2026