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Institutional Framework
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4.2. Institutional Framework
Existing institutional arrangements: With the assistance and help of the UNDP-GEF Dnipro Basin Environment Programme, the riparian countries have established the following structures:
- The International Dnipro Basin Council;
- The International Dnipro Basin Thematic Centres, comprising the international working groups of experts; and
- The International Non-Governmental Organisation Forum, whose activities are supported by the International Dnipro River NGO Network.
These international structures operate on the basis of their respective Statutes, approved by the relevant International Management Bodies set up under the UNDP-GEF Dnipro Basin Environment Programme, including the Steering, the Joint and the three National Programme Management Committees with the Programme Management Unit providing overall coordination.
In order to facilitate the implementation of the Helsinki Convention (1992) and ensuing bilateral commitments, the riparian countries of the Dnipro Basin signed the Agreements on Use and Protection of Transboundary Water Bodies, and set up the Bilateral Government Committees that play an important role in strengthening cross-border cooperation.
Proposed options for improving the institutional framework:
Key provisions of the Agreement relating to the proposed institutional arrangements include:
- The Conference of the Parties as a supreme body for managing the Basin;
- The establishment of the International Dnipro Basin Commission, to exercise executive and administrative functions;
- The provision of a legal framework and ensuring the sustainable operation of the International Dnipro Basin Council, International Dnipro Basin Thematic Centres, and NGO Forum.
- The coordinated operation of the International Dnipro Basin Commission and Bilateral Government Commissions on Use and Protection of Transboundary Water Bodies.
The riparian countries of the Dnipro Basin consider it necessary to make a formal request to the Global Environmental Facility to provide support and assistance to the sustainable operation of the following structures in the transition period preceding the signing of the Agreement:
- The Steering, Joint and three National Management Committees whose role will be to guide the implementation of the SAP/NAPs;
- The Programme Management Unit, to provide international coordination and monitor the SAP/NAP implementation;
- Technical offices, to be set up in order to provide technical and organizational support to the National Programme Management Committees.
It is imperative that the existing legal and institutional arrangements should be strengthened in order to:
- implement the SAP in line with the sustainable development concepts adopted by the riparian countries of the Dnipro Basin;
- ensure the sustainable and environmentally sound use and protection of the Basin’s water resources in the interests of current and future generations and national economies;
- ensure the conservation of ecosystems; and
- minimise/prevent adverse transboundary impacts.
In order to strengthen and coordinate regional cooperation, the riparian countries and international partners should:
- be guided by this SAP and governed by the national environmental laws and global/regional UN Conventions, ratified by the Republic of Belarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine, relating to transboundary pollution, both air and water, and the conservation of biological diversity;
- cooperate closely in order to develop, sign the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Sustainable Management and Protection of the Dnipro River Basin (the ‘Agreement’ hereinafter).
Institutional Framework of the SAP Implementation
