Water

Country Water Action: Ukraine
MAMA-86 and the Drinking Water Campaign in the Ukraine

The case study highlights the work of MAMA-86, a national environmental NGO in the Ukraine. MAMA-86 focuses on environmental challenges such as air pollution, water contamination, women and children's ill health, environmental policy making and the like.

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Ukrainian nationals are confronted daily by problems with their drinking water. About 75% of the population is supplied by surface water, but most of these are not fit for drinking. In urban areas, the problems of low water quality, limited water supply and rapid increase in tariffs are common. In rural areas, where wells provide a significant source of water, the problems are water shortages and water contamination, i.e. manganese, iron, hydrogen sulphide and nitrates.

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The Drinking Water Campaign was started by 4 NGOs. Today, the campaign includes 10 organizations and works towards

• Monitoring the drinking water quality in the Ukraine
• Raising public awareness and provide information about critical water issues
• Stimulating the cooperation and debates between different sectors
• Conducting pilot projects aimed at improving drinking water quality and rational water use
• Building pressure for a change in Ukraine's waterpolicy

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The campaign was successful in mobilizing people, especially women, to action. Among its successes are

• In Tararbunary, a small town in the southern part of Ukraine, the campaign movers helped determine the viability of small-scale water purification systems and installed a water treatment system that now benefits school children.

• In the cities of Kiev, Odessa and Kharviv, pilot projects promoting water use reduction and educating people on economic instruments as tools for water sector reform were successful.

• In Artemivsk, an industrial town, the campaign interventions helped improve the capacity and quality of existing wells, install water meters, enabled the water utility to run profitably, established good relations with residents and ensured payment of water bills.

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Among the valuable insights highlighted by the campaign are:

• Water is a critical resource and a common good. Water should not be a means for profit
• A watershed/water basin approach is essential to water management solutions
• There should be more focus on water treatment and a holistic management of the water cycle
• Women's actions for change are setting new parameters for democratic governance
• There should be transparency in all water utilities and local authorities and an open process of consultation with the public
• The arrival of multinationals and the push for privatization should be approached with caution as it could lead to an increase in poverty and inaccessibility of water to a significant part of the population

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Prabha Khosla
Prabha Khosla Consulting, Women's Network for Sustainability
Toronto, Canada
E-mail: prabha@idirect.com