On 7 October 2015 the Ukrainian parliament passed a law accepting the amendment to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) opening the Convention to accession by all United Nations Member States. This was the final ratification needed to ensure that countries outside the UNECE region can accede to the Convention, and lifts the last legal hurdle to the Convention’s globalization.

The important step by Ukraine is even more remarkable since, following several changes in government which required restarting of the accession process; the country completed the parliamentary ratification procedure within just a few months.

This crucial development is very timely as several countries from outside the UNECE region, such as Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia, have already started a national process towards accession to the Convention. In addition, several African countries have announced their potential interest in joining it. More than 60 countries from outside the UNECE region have already participated in activities under the Convention in recent years, enriching the exchange of experience in the Convention’s framework.

The ratification by Ukraine comes at an important moment, just few weeks before the seventh session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention in Budapest (17–19 November 2015). Gathering participants from more than 70 countries from all over the world, the Budapest meeting will mark the transition of the Convention to a global instrument. The Convention’s globalization will be an important topic in the session agenda: the Meeting of the Parties will adopt a decision on establishing a framework for implementation of the Convention at the global level, as well as its programme of work for 2016-2018, with activities targeting countries from all the regions of the world.

Congratulating Ukraine for this achievement, UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach said: “This is quite a unique moment in time for transboundary water cooperation: with the adoption of an SDG on water calling for transboundary cooperation, the entry into force of the Watercourses Convention and the global opening of the Water Convention, we can make great advances in transboundary water cooperation on the ground.”

In a statement on the occasion of World Water Day 2013, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had urged countries outside the UNECE region to join the Convention and further develop it. Thanks to the latest ratification of the Convention’s amendment by Ukraine, this is now finally possible.