Water Governance in Europe & CIS

Water Supply and Sanitation

Main challenges in the region

Many countries in the region face sever challenges to deliver safe drinking water and adequate sanitation services to all parts of their population. Tap water is often of dubious quality and delivered at limited times during the day or week only. Large parts of the existing infrastructure built during the Soviet period is falling apart due to a mix of unclear responsibilities between different governmental institutions on one hand, and a severe lack of financial resources for operation and maintenance on the other. There are usually significant disparities between urban and rural areas.

On the demand side, water use efficiency in many countries is poor, often due to inadequate infrastructure but mostly based on the still prevailing attitude of water as a free resource. Unmet demands for transparent and cost-recovering pricing schemes for water and sanitation services and the lack the “user and polluter pays” principle are aggravating the picture.

UNDP priority areas and activities

The UNDP Human Development Report “Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis”  has demonstrated the need to make Water a Human Right  – and meaning it: UNDP is promoting equal access to sufficient, safe and affordable water and sanitation services to live a healthy and prosperous life for all men and women of the society, focusing in particular on disadvantaged and marginalized groups.

 Through two new programs -  GoAL-WASH and "Human Rights-Based Approaches for Water Governance" - UNDP is supporting governments in the region to develop national strategies and concrete interventions for achieving full access to water and sanitation services for all citizens. Activities are following the principles of IWRM and HRBA that combines integration of key stakeholders across the public and private sectors in decision taking processes with necessary policy reforms and legal interventions.

In addition to aspects of gender equality and conflict prevention, UNDP is supporting the countries to face new challenges that are emerging with regard to Adaptation to Climate Change .

Through programmes like GoAL-WaSH, CapNet, and others, UNDP promotes and facilitates equitable access to Water and Sanitation services as a fundamental contribution to enhancing human development.