Heinrich Boell Foundation Yerevan Office-South Caucasus Region in cooperation with “Green Armenia” NGO launches a new research project “Evaluating Water Resources that went under control of Azerbaijan after 2020 war”.
The project is an example of environmental research and investigative journalism. The main goal of the project is to analyze water-related issues arose after the 44-day war in 2020. The point is that the distribution of water resources between Armenia and Azerbaijan has changed. As the situation after 2020 is uncertain, it is necessary to investigate and map the extent of the loss of water resources and infrastructure specifically in the border regions of Armenia: Gegharkunik and Syunik what impact this has had on the surrounding communities and to work on solving the problems identified.
The aim of the project is to initiate discussions on the topic, to raise awareness of the public and responsible governmental authorities about water security, and to emphasize the importance of water cooperation, including cross-border cooperation. The main activities of the project are: collecting data on bordering water resources through official enquiries, mapping settlements that depend on bordering waters and visiting them to further investigate water availability there. The residents of the communities as well as water management experts and government officials will be interviewed. As a result, a video material and research paper will be produced. The situation assessment, main problems and recommendations will be presented in the final products.
Apart from the immediate results of the project, in the long-run perspective it will create a platform for finding solutions. Furthermore, on a regional scale the analysis should also pave the road for possible cross-border cooperation.
