The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) published the first volume of 'Every Drop Matters,' a publication that highlights water and sanitation activities conducted through the UNDP-TCCC Every Drop Matters Regional Water Partnership.
The partnership aims to accelerate achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by improved access to water and sanitation in Armenia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and the Black Sea coastal countries.
March 2013: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) published the first volume of ‘Every Drop Matters,’ a publication that highlights water and sanitation activities conducted through the UNDP-TCCC Every Drop Matters Regional Water Partnership. The partnership aims to accelerate achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by improved access to water and sanitation in Armenia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and the Black Sea coastal countries.
The UNDP-TCCC Every Drop Matters Regional Water Partnership seeks to empower community groups and local authorities to improve access to clean water and sanitation, and to build local capacity for sustainable water management in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The report introduces the Partnership, discusses regional water challenges and includes chapters on project achievements and impacts in each of the initiative’s focal countries.
The publication highlights the Partnership’s “collaborative working together culture” rather than “donor-implementer” relationship as a model public-private collaboration. Regional water challenges include addressing: poor quality surface and groundwater; wastewater treatment practices; low resource management capacity; inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure, which negatively impacts health; over-exploitation; and agricultural runoff.
Highlighted country projects include: a new wastewater treatment system to improve sanitation, protect the Aghstev river and raise awareness about environmentally-friendly water practices in Dilijan, Armenia; improved water recovery and recycling and sustainable water management through a water users’ cooperative group in Kok-Ozek, Kazakhstan, including universal household access to piped water; rooftop rainwater harvesting in Turkey; and natural spring rehabilitation in Ukraine. In the Russian Federation, the Partnership reduced water contamination in Lake Baikal, a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, through increased awareness and education and sustainable tourism options. [Publication: Every Drop Matters Volume 1]