#SIWISofa: Pathways for Water Diplomacy and Policy Impact

The best practices and practical solutions accumulated within the numerous development programs often are not reflected in the legislation and therefore have little impact on the government policies. The disconnect between practice, science, and policy, makes policy uptake process difficult. To make policy influencing process more targeted and effective, CAREC launched an innovative mechanism directly involving parliamentarians and diplomats to its environmental and water-related programs, where they meet twice a year to discuss pressing topics with water and environmental experts, civil society and academic community. It is a platform of practice-science-policy for regular exchange of problems, best practices and solutions. This regional advocacy platform can serve as an effective mechanism for better information exchange, both internally and regionally, translation of knowledge into policy and feedback system for all involved stakeholders.