International Partners

The Caspian Environment Programme works closely with a number of organizations in protecting the Caspian marine and coastal environments. The CEP has been established on the basis of intergovernmental agreements between the riparian Caspian countries and financial support of the following international organizations:
Global Environment Facility Contact person: Hudson Andrew UNDP/GEF Office: International S Waters Principal Technical Adviser Address:FF- 1072, 1 UN Plaza New York,10017-USA Tel:  212-906 6228 Fax: 212-906 6998 E-mail:andrew.hudson@undp.org	The Global Environmental Facility is the largest environmental fund in the world. The GEF, has four major thematic areas: International Waters, Greenhouse gases, Ozone Depletion, Biodiversity. Based on a GEF mission to the Region in May and June, 1995, the GEF agreed to fund the preparatory phases of a Regional Project on the Caspian: the Caspian Environment Programme. This activity coincided with EU/TACIS's expression of assistance to the Caspian, and both projects have worked closely to provide coordinated assistance to the Region. The project preparation for the GEF project assisting the CEP (known as a PDF-B) project, was completed in October, 1998, when the GEF Council approved the GEF Project for the Caspian Environment Programme. The three Implementing Agencies for the GEF (UNDP, UNEP, and The World Bank) work closely to implement components of the CEP. The GEF financially supports the current project as a key element in support of the CEP in the preliminary implementation of the Strategic Action Programme and continuance of the Convention process.  Implementation of this project has been undertaken by UNDP with execution by UNOPS.  The objectives of this project are to:  Commence implementation of the SAP in the priority areas of Biodiversity, Invasive Species and Persistent Toxic Substances. Continue with specific capacity building measures to ensure a regionally owed CEP coordination mechanism capable of full implementation of the SAP and regional coordination of the NCAPs and consolidate/update the TDA, SAP and NCAP's following a series of information gap-filling measures. Strengthen the environmental legal and policy frameworks operating at the regional and the national levels and where necessary improve implementation and compliance of those frameworks. Achieve tangible environmental improvements in SAP priority areas by implementation of small-scale investments supported by a small matched grants programme
United Nations Development Programme	The UNDP is leading the Caspian Environment Programme's coordination mechanism, and is dealing with formulation of the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis, five National Caspian Action Plans and the Strategic Action Plan. UNDP is the sole major donor unfettered in its interactions with all five countries equally, and is playing a central role in implementation of the CEP, along with the UNEP, The World Bank, and the EU/TACIS. Implementation of this project has been undertaken by UNDP with execution by UNOPS.
European Union’s Tacis Programme Contact person: Albert Russel European Commission Directorate A, Unit A4 Tacis Office L-41 4/43 Rue de la Loi, 200 B-1049 Bruxelles Tel.: 32 2 295 14 46 Fax: 32 2 296 79 10 E-mail: albert.russel@cec.eu.int	The European Union commenced support to the CEP in January 1998 through its Tacis programme of technical assistance. The project is operated by the consortium ERM-Lahmeyer international, GOPA, and DHI Water Environment. The EU assistance established the Programme Coordinating Unit and 4 thematic Centres, dealing with Management of Bioresources, Combating Desertification, Water Level Fluctuations and Pollution Control. The technical investigations culminated in a Preliminary Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis in early 2000. Support continues in these technical themes, together with assistance to the overall Convention structures and the identification of investment potential. EU-Tacis supports CEP project targeting fisheries and sustainable coastal development in the Second Phase of CEP. The Second Phase of CEP will receive support from EU/Tacis, approximately Euro 3.4 million ( $ 3, 740,000). The EU-Tacis programme has two components: -             Caspian fisheries support with a value of 1 million Euro will include technical assistance to undertake stock assessments; to set scientifically based fish quotas; and to develop a regional fisheries agreement, -             Coastal Sustainable Development with a value of 2.4 million Euro, involving the establishment of pilot projects to demonstrate good coastal governance and alternative sustainable coastal livelihoods. The pilot project in the I.R. Iran looking at wetland adaptation will be linked to the EU-Tacis programme.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Contact person: Frits Schlingemann Director and Regional Representative UNEP/ROE Geneva Executive Centre (GEC) Address: 15 Chemin des Anemones 1219 Chatelaine, Geneva Switzerland Tel: (41-22) 9178276 Fax: (41-22) 9178024 E-mail: frits.schlingemann@unep.ch	In the framework of CEP, UNEP supports the implementation of Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis within the riparian Caspian Sea countries. UNEP also strengthens institutional, legal, regulatory and economic frameworks for the Strategic Action Planning Implementation in cooperation with the Centre for International Projects (CIP), Moscow , and the CEP International Partners - UNDP, World Bank and EU/TACIS. UNEP is in charge of leading the development of a Regional Convention for the Protection of the Caspian Sea Environment, which will complement five National Caspian Action Plans and a Strategic Action Plan for the Caspian Sea . UNEP's Regional Office for Europe is taking responsibility for guiding the Convention process  during the Second Phase of CEP under a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed with UNOPS. UNEP's Regional Office for Europe will deal with preparation of ancillary documents to the Framework Convention and serving the Framework Convention process through an inter-agency agreement with UNOPS. Inter-agency agreements will also be made with the following UN agencies and programmes: International Atomic Energy Agency, Marine Environmental Laboratory. Food and Agriculture Organisation International Maritime Organisation Global Plan of Action against pollution to the marine environment from land based sources IUCN UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre
The World Bank Contact person: Amy Evans The World Bank Environment Sector Europe and Central Asia Region Address: 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433, USA Tel.: 202 473 8018 Fax: 2026140709 E-mail: aevans1@worldbank.org	The World Bank provided funding for the Ecotoxicology Project and executed for the UNDP the $2 million Priority Investment Portfolios Project (PIPP) together with the EU/Tacis, UNDP and UNEP). It is hoped that two projects will emerge from the UNDP-implemented WB-executed Priority Investment Portfolio Project, a component project of the first GEF CEP support: -             A Kura River Delta Rehabilitation and Protection Project seeks to restore the Delta's irreplaceable role in migration of anadromous and semi-anadromous fish to their natural upstream spawning grounds, to preserve biodiversity by protecting the wetland ecosystem, to reduce poverty in the local communities and to establish a funding mechanism for sustainable fisheries management targeting the valuable sturgeon stocks. Estimated value of the project is $ 6 millions -             A medium sized biodiversity GEF project in Turkmenistan , to be implemented by UNDP Turkmenistan.  The estimated value of the project is between $ 700,000 to $ one million (since these are GEF funds this is not counted as project co-finance).   The Kura project and the Turkmenistan projects are still in identification phase and have not been included in the co-funding calculation.  The Turkmen project can not be considered as co-funding as it might be for most part funded from GEF. The World Bank also continues to finance implementation of projects in the Caspian region, including, for instance, activities in support of Azerbaijan 's National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP). The World Bank is also continuing efforts to mobilize resources to fund ECOTOX II and the ESMAP.
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)	UNOPS serves as Executing Agency for the UNDP- implemented portion of the Project and the UNOPS project office support is based in the UNOPS Geneva offices. Where at all possible at the country level, the UNDP country offices will share responsibility for execution of the project with UNOPS.