ENG - UN CC:Learn

UNDP SERVICE LINE:EFFECTIVE WATER GOVERNANCE
The world over, water flows upstream towards the rich and powerful. Poor
people are largely excluded from decision-making about the management
and allocation of the water resources they need to grow their food, earn
their livelihoods, and protect their health. More than a billion people lack
access to a safe water supply, and in many parts of the world, consumption
of and competition for increasingly precious water resources have intensified
dramatically in recent decades. For many of the poor, water shortages,
water quality degradation, and destruction of formerly productive aquatic
ecosystems are seriously diminishing their prospects for economic and
social development, poverty reduction, and political stability.
This global water crisis results not from natural limitations of water supply or
lack of technology or finance (though these factors may play a contributing
role), but rather from profound failures in water governance—that is, the
range of political, social, economic, and other systems that regulate the
development and management of water resources and the provision of
water at different levels of society. The solution to water crises, now and in
the future, is more often to be found in changing the way we use and manage
water than in technological advances or supply-oriented approaches.
2004 DISBURSEMENT ON WATER GOVERNANCE IN ALL REGIONS
UNDP’S WATER GOVERNANCE PRIORITIES &
APPROACHES
■ Support holistic, efficient and equitable water
resources management in the context of
national development frameworks
■ Promote cooperation on regional and global
water challenges
■ Advocate for decentralized water resources
management in national and subnational policy,
legal, institutional, regulatory, and budget
frameworks
■ Encourage gender mainstreaming in water
governance
■ Strengthen capacity building networks for
improved management of water resources
■ Promote incorporation of climate change
adaptation in national water governance
strategies
OUTCOMES & IMPACT
Source: Multi Year Financial Framework Report for 2004
UNDP Responds to Country Demands
Africa
Arab States
Asia and The Pacific
Europe and CIS
Latin America and The Caribbean
The Arab Region is facing the most challenging water resources conditions in
the world. Recognizing this fact and based on demands by countries in the
region, UNDP’s country office recorded disbursements in 2004 on effective
water governance in this region represented 72% of total disbursement in all
regions on water projects. The share of donors and local government resources
represented 97% highlighting the importance of the water situation in this
region.
Thus, UNDP’s response has been to emphasize an integrated water
resources management (IWRM) approach based on effective water governance.
Good water governance is a prime vehicle for ensuring that local and
national governments as well as the international system as a whole give
priority to the needs of the poor in setting water policy and in designing
■ Strengthened capacity of government and
civil society to apply methods and tools related
to integrated water resources management
■ Mainstreaming of local, national, regional and
global water resources objectives into poverty
reduction strategies, macroeconomic and
sectoral policies, and other policy and planning
frameworks
■ Empowerment of marginalized and vulnerable
groups to participate in decision-making
processes concerning water resources
■ Enhanced transparency and accountability of
water governance systems
■ Increased access to and control over water
resources for the poor
■ Integration of gender perspectives in water
governance and empowerment of women as
water managers
15