Afghanistan and Australia Enhanced Higher Education Cooperation on Integrated Water Resource Management

A Collaboration Agreement between Kabul Polytechnique University of Afghanistan and the International Water Centre (IWC) of Australia was signed on 6 October 2020 during a virtual teleconference held between Kabul and Canberra with attendance of officials and academic counterparts from both countries.

The signing ceremony was held few weeks after the commencement of the first Master Programme on Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in Afghanistan with collaboration of IWC and Griffith University of Australia.

Recalling the Afghan higher education delegation Australia visit in November 2018 as a stepping stone for this initiative, Ambassador Wahidullah Waissi welcomed the signing of the agreement and highlighted the importance of Master Program on IWRM as one of the most crucial areas of capacity building needs for Afghan young professionals. He hoped that the project to be fully implemented.

The Master programme has already been started on 13 September based on a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) between Kabul Polytechnic University, International Water Centre and Griffith University of Australia that was signed in Kabul on 19 July 2019.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the programme is designed in mixture format where participants will have the flexibility of both virtual and physical attendance. 

Funded by Asian Development Bank and supported by Australian expertise, the program will provide higher education opportunity for dozens of Kabul Polytechnic University students and engineers from Ministry of Energy and Water of Afghanistan on IWRM by Australian and Afghan professors and experts.

The higher education cooperation between Australia and Afghanistan was better shaped since the first historic visit by H.E President of Afghanistan in April 2017 and is more focused on the key areas of economic development including mines and minerals, agriculture and dryland farming and water resource management.