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Water Governance"Adaptive Water Governance" refers to a range of political, social, economic, and administrative mechanisms necessary to develop and manage water resources with equal access and service delivery at different levels of society. The UNDP Human Development Report 2006 demonstrates the pivotal role of Water Governance for sustainable and human development, and as crucial basis for achieving most of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Main Challenges in the Region
The main challenge in the region is a question of "Adaptive Water Governance" though: A lack of awareness and failure of past education about water conservation, combined with the widespread prevailing expectation that water (and sanitation) services are provided free of charge, results in low water use efficiency. Furthermore, the region faces an acute imbalance between required and available financial resources for the development and maintenance of water and sanitation infrastructure. On top, only few contries have prepared themselves to face emerging challenges caused by Climate Variability yet - IWRM (Integrated Water Resources Management) is the keyword for UNDP and its partners here.
Water knows no political boundaries: The emergence of new states in the region after the fall of the Soviet Union exacerbated the problem of demarcation of natural water-systems (river, lake, sea and groundwater basins). The pressure on transboundary water (and land) resources can lead to potential conflicts between states (and local users) sharing them. UNDP has been very active in this region on the issue of Transboundary Waters Management.
UNDP priority areas and activities
Adaptive Water Governance is a strategic priority for UNDP in the region. Concrete work is concentrating around the three priority areas: Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), Transboundary Waters (TW) and Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS). Strategic interventions are needed to systematically develop the capacity in the region and support the management of the project portfolio, including exploring new partnerships and initiatives in identified priority areas. UNDP has an extensive Water Governance Portfolio in Europe and CIS, funded by GEF and co-funded by national governments, EU and other partners. Besides that, the most recent activities of UNDP are focused on promoting the IWRM and fostering transboundary diaglogue in Central Asia, as well as on improvement of water governance in region through applying a human rights -based approach. UNDP's Regional Centre for Europe & CIS has put a special emphasis also on continuous codification, dissemination and application of knowledge and experience and has spearheaded the development of innovative approaches to knowledge management, including the development of "WaterWiki.net", the Wiki for Water Proffessionals worldwide.
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While countries in the region report high degrees of “connectivity” to the state water and sanitation grid, many household in reality face severe problem with running water and sewerage. In many cases, tap water is of dubious quality and delivered at limited times during the day or week. Especially people in rural areas still lack basic for access to 
