Strengthening national and international governance to achieve integrated water resources management is a challenging task.
At the national level, National Policy Dialogues - which have been held since 2007 in Ukraine with EU support - act as a multi-stakeholder forum to discuss priority water policy issues across all sectors (agriculture, health, energy, industry, land management, transport, etc.) and with civil society. The EU4Environment Water and Data programme supports this process.
Policies and legislation constitute the “rules of the game” for all stakeholders. Policy documents in Ukraine (the Water Code) and legislation (the Law of Ukraine "On Nature Environment Protection", the Law “On Drinking Water , Drinking Water Supply and Drainage”) provide the foundations for the management of water resources. Documents including the Water Code address water balance and water allocation in order to tackle climate change impacts. The EU4Environment – Water and Data programme further contributes to the improvement of Ukrainian policy vis-à-vis climate change adaptation.
At the international level, stronger coordination is needed with neighboring countries on shared water resources. The EU EU4Environment Water and Data programme facilitates reporting regarding the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 6.5.2 on transboundary water cooperation and the UN Water Convention to track the progress made so far and identify future needs.
