Areas of Focus: Peacebuilding and conflict prevention, Water, sanitation and hygiene
The Aral Sea Basin is shared by five Central Asian Countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Additionally the basin includes parts of Afghanistan and a small part of Iran. Due to lack of regional planning exacerbated by the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Aral Sea has suffered from one of the worst environmental degradations on our planet. Beyond the loss of 60 kilometers of the Aral Sea shoreline, the lack of cooperation between the upstream countries and downstream countries has resulted in lost opportunities for mutual benefit water management, mis-allocation of resources for agricultural management, lost opportunities for much needed hydro-electric development and the probability of severe water shortages affecting increasing populations.
Additionally, lack of regional planning puts citizens of several countries at risk of serious loss of life or displacement of large populations for not undertaking any risk mitigation for the eventual breach of the earthquake-created dam holding back large volumes of water in Lake Sarez.
On two occasions, The Rotary Foundation has sponsored workshops in conjunction with UNESCO-IHE and additional agencies to bring together appropriate representative professionals from the seven countries in the Aral Sea Basin to consider a framework for addressing transboundary water conflict management. We have been advised by professionals in the field that this is the first diplomacy-based workshop involving Aral Sea Basin participants. The workshops were hosted by UNESCO-IHE, the first in October of 2014 and the second in December 2016. It is anticipated that additional workshops will take place sponsored by regional or international agencies to continue to move the dialogue forward towards long term positive outcomes.
In conjunction with these efforts, an academic program has been identified whereby students from the Aral Sea Basin countries can study at the graduate level and the knowledge gained can be used to develop a diplomatic framework to address the challenging and conflicting transboundary Aral Sea Basin issues. This program, the Water Cooperation and Diplomacy Program involves the University for Peace in Costa Rica, IHE-Delft, and Oregon State University.
The cost of the 18 month program is approximately US$78,000 with the next academic year commencing the Fall of 2021. At this time we are hoping to find funding for one student from three of the Central Asian countries and one from Afghanistan to go through the program as a cohort.
Paid
This project is "Paid". This means the funds have been received and the project is being implemented.
Project listed for the 2023-24 Rotary Year.
The TRF Grant application number is #2120994.
Proposed Financing
Existing Contributions Towards This Project
Date
Cash
DDF
Total
La Jolla Golden Triangle (5340)
11-Nov-20
$32,250
$0
$32,250
Southeast San Diego (5340)
11-Nov-20
$10,000
$10,000
$20,000
Blythe (5340)
11-Nov-20
$5,000
$5,000
$10,000
Amount Requested from The Rotary Foundation
-
$12,000
$12,000
Total
$74,250
DDF contributions in grey are pending approval of the corresponding district committee.
Note: as of July 1, 2015 there is a 5% additional support fee for cash contributions. This fee does not appear in the financials above because it does not apply if the funds are sent directly to the project account (without going through TRF, and therefore without Paul Harris credit). Clubs sending their cash contribution to TRF must be aware they will have to send an additional 5%.
Project Supporting Documents
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Project Photos
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History Log Entries
11-Nov-20
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Creation of project page.
11-Nov-20
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Pledge of $10,000 DDF by Dianne Crawford of the Rotary Club of Southeast San Diego, District 5340.
11-Nov-20
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Pledge of $5,000 by Michael Cusick of the Rotary Club of Blythe, District 5340.
11-Nov-20
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Pledge of $10,000 with $10,000 DDF by Dianne Crawford of the Rotary Club of Southeast San Diego, District 5340.
11-Nov-20
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Pledge of $5,000 with $5,000 DDF by Michael Cusick of the Rotary Club of Blythe, District 5340.
12-Dec-20
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Application Sent to The Rotary Foundation through Member Access.
29-Dec-20
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Application approved by The Rotary Foundation.
2-Apr-21
by Pam Russell
We are in the process of selecting a new scholar for this grant.
16-Jun-21
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Project reverted to "Published".
3-Jul-23
by Steve Brown
Scholar in final stages of program.
3-Jul-23
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Project is now "Fully Pledged".
3-Jul-23
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Application Sent to The Rotary Foundation through Member Access.
3-Jul-23
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Application approved by The Rotary Foundation.
3-Jul-23
by Pam Russell
System Entry: Payment has been issued by The Rotary Foundation.
2-Oct-24
by Steve Brown
Grant is complete, final report sent to TRF and accepted
