On December 7th in Dolyna, Ivano-Frankivsk region within the framework of joint project of UNDP and Coca-Cola Ukraine “Every Drop Matters” inauguration of natural spring took place. The event saw participation of the UNDP/MGSDP, that co-implements the EDM in 2011, local authorities and Dolyna school.
As everybody knows, water is essential for life of people, plants and animals. From the beginning of civilization, humans settled close to water sources. Unfortunately, in many countries water is scarce or contaminated. Availability of good water supply can significantly improve the quality of life and is a source of, and the condition for, a socio-economic development.
Ukraine faces the problem of access to safe drinking water too. Despite the large number of rivers, Ukraine is one of the most water deficit countries in Europe. It belongs to the six Central and Eastern European countries receiving between 50% and 75% of their water from external sources. The usage of natural springs, if available, could be one of the solutions to this challenge.
Providing the population of Dolyna with proper quality water in sufficient quantity is one of strategic tasks of the city development. In 2011 Dolyna municipality decided to apply for participation in the joint UNDP and Coca-Cola company (TM “BonAqua”) “Every Drop Matters” project which is being implemented in the framework of UNDP project “Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme”. The application proved to be successful and now two natural springs are being rehabilitated in the city with EDM project funds.
The task of the Project in the city was not only to recover and protect natural springs, but also to promote rational consumption of water resources of the community and to teach its members to carefully treat water recourses. In the framework of EDM project, a training on responsible treatment of water resources was held for pupils of Dolyna Specialized Boarding School and Dolyna School # 7 and two posters messaging “Nature has given us clean water. Save it” were placed. All these activities attracted attention of the population to the problem of clean natural water shortage.
The Official Opening Ceremony of one of the rehabilitated natural springs – the one, located in the City Park, clearly demonstrated that the EDM project is really of a great importance for the city and its citizens.
The project was realized jointly by the Civil Society Organization “Centr pidtrymky ta rozvytku reform” of Dolyna municipality and the Specialized Boarding School. The rehabilitated natural spring is located in a picturesque area of the City Park with a lake. There is another spring in the park, which was already rehabilitated according to the parking zone development plan. About 70-90 people daily take water from that spring. However, quite often people had to wait in a line in order to take water. Rehabilitation of one more natural spring and improvement of the territory around it made access to the spring and water easy and eliminated lines for water. More people are able to come and take water from the springs.
The Official Ceremony of the rehabilitated spring opening took place in the City Park on 7 December 2011. Representatives of UNDP, Dolyna City Mayor and representatives of City Council, pupils, teachers and director of Dolyna Specialized Boarding School, journalists of local and rayon media and citizens of the city participated in the event.
Dolyna Boarding School demonstrated a concert with songs about water, theatrical performance about importance of drinking water of a good quality and even the FlashMob performed by pupils. At the beginning of the event Volodymyr Garazd, Dolyna City Mayor, welcomed all the participants, congratulated them with the spring opening and expressed appreciation of efforts of those, who contributed to realization of the project. Then the spring was consecrated by the priest.
Participation in Every Drop Matters project and successful rehabilitation of the natural spring was encouraging for realization of other community projects in the city. It showed that collective efforts of community members and proper use of available resources can significantly improve living conditions. Moreover, the EDM project stressed the importance of responsible use of water resources and inspired the children, who participated in the training and the spring opening ceremony, to initiate their own projects and share the received knowledge with their friends, schoolmates and parents.
It is expected that Opening Ceremonies of other natural springs, rehabilitated under EDM project support in 4 more UNDP/MGSDP partner municipalities, will be even more inspiring events.
For detailed information please refer to Olga Osaulenko Olga.Osaulenko@undp.org.ua
