Secretariat - Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities

The project Transboundary Co-operation and Sustainable Management of the Dniester River involved Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, including Transdniestria. The ENVSEC project was managed by the OSCE in collaboration with the UNECE. The objective of the project was the facilitation of the development of regional and transboundary co-operation between the Dniester riparians on the management of shared water resources in the Dniester River basin. Activities included:

• institutionalisation through establishing legal mechanisms for water management;
• development of an action programme to improve the legal framework;
• drafting a new bilateral agreement between the states;
• promotion of confidence-building measures and the exchange of information between the two countries;

The role of non-governmental organizations was extremely important in this respect. The support provided in the Dniester river basin has been important in improving the international legal basis for transboundary and intergovernmental cooperation, including the exchange of information and public participation in decision-making.

The project started in September 2004 with a budget of 120,000 euros.