FAQ

Increasing water scarcity, water services shortfalls and escalating pollution are socially and politically induced challenges. The water crisis is increasingly about how we, as individuals, and as parts of a collective society, govern the access to and control over water resources and their benefits. Poor people are disproportionately disadvantaged in their access to safe potable water and basic sanitation as well as water for productive uses in agriculture and other economic sectors.

UNDP defines water governance as the range of political, social, economic and administrative systems that are in place to develop and manage water resources and the delivery of water services, at different levels of society.
Water governance addresses, among other things:

 • the formulation and adoption of sustainable legislation, policies and institutions,
 • the way legislation, institutions and policies are being established, enforced and implemented, and
 • the clarification of the roles and responsibilities of all involved stakeholders - local and national government, private sector, civil society - regarding ownership, administration and management of water resources.

Water governance is fundamental to the achievement of all the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Prudent water management is crucial for reaching national development objectives and for improving the livelihoods of poor people. It is also a vital component of actions to improve environmental sustainability, by maintaining the integrity of ecosystems, and by bringing together stakeholders around a key resource that could either unite or divide societies.

The UNDP Water Governance Facility at SIWI provides strategic support to achieve:
1. Improved water governance to advance socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically efficient management of water resources, including water and sanitation services
2. Implementation of Intergrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) at local, national, and regional levels, and
3. MDG and World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) targets for water supply and sanitation.

The Facility supports water governance-related work of governments, civil society and other stakeholders in developing countries.

1. Providing policy support and advice on water governance to developing countries to meet demands at local, national and river basin levels.
2. Applying and disseminating good practices from local to country and river basin levels to enhance water governance work
3. Advocating effective water governance as a requirement to reach the water-related MDG and WSSD water and sanitation targets
4. Participating in the work of the World Water Assessment Programme and contributing on water governance issues to the World Water Development Report.

The UNDP Water Governance Facility at SIWI responds to requests from developing countries for policy and institutional support to address an array of water governance issues. It works through existing UNDP organisational networks, whereby developing country demand will be expressed to UNDP and SIWI. The Facility complements ongoing interventions, and facilitates leveraging of additional in-country funding. The programme is funded jointly by the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Sida) and UNDP. The programme is housed and implemented in collaboration with SIWI.

Please contact us for more information and to access the services of the UNDP Water Governance Facility at SIWI.
Contact Person: Håkan Tropp, Project Director, hakan.tropp@siwi.org
For more information, please see the contact page.