BRIDGE

BRIDGE Brochure

BRIDGE (Building River Dialogues and Governance) supports the capacities of countries sharing river or lake basins to implement effective water management arrangements. Its goal is to enhance cooperation among riparians to through applying water diplomacy at multiple levels.

BRIDGE works through 5 key implementation strategies:

• Demonstration - testing of how to make cooperation operational in a basin to build confidence and trust
• Learning - using training and capacity building for multiple stakeholders in water governance, international water law and benefit sharing to enhance knowledge and understanding
• Dialogue for consensus building - using demonstration actions and learning events to catalyse new dialogues on technical, development and political matters
• Leadership - supporting empowerment of champions for transboundary water cooperation and better water governance who can effectively advocate for mobilisation of water diplomacy
• Advice and Support - providing advice and technical assistance on demand to governments and stakeholders including on legal and institutional frameworks 

For more information visit the website or send an e-mail to water@iucn.org.

Expected results

• Transboundary governance reforms are implemented
• Negotiation and understanding of water governance and sharing benefits are improved in 9 watersheds
• New multi-stakeholders platforms, including the voice of the poor, are established 
• Cooperation mechanisms trialled and strengthened, including data exchange, technical coordination and joint planning
• Water charters and transboundary codes-of-conduct are implemented
• Trust between stakeholders is fostered and is the basis of good transboundary relationships and conflict prevention

Results and tools from the BRIDGE project will be used to promote implementation of improved water governance and transboundary cooperation in the participating regions. Lessons learned will be shared globally to support applications in other key transboundary hot spots for water diplomacy.

Core Organisation

The team of the BRIDGE Project embraces different branches of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Water Programme

Since its inception in 1985, the Water Programme has been working across the world to protect and conserve water resources. It covers multiple areas such as integrated water resource management, environmental flows, water economics, watershed ecosystem, as well as river bank rehabilitation, and the effects of climate change on global water supply and distribution.

IUCN’s Water Programme contributes towards the conservation of water biodiversity by promoting, influencing and catalyzing sustainable uses and equitable sharing of resources, as well as protecting ecosystems. 

For more information visit the website.

IUCN Environmental Law Centre

The IUCN Environmental Law Centre (ELC) was established in 1970 in the city of Bonn (Germany). The Centre is recognized around the world as a leading global centre of excellence in environmental law. It is also the headquarters for the UNEP, FAO, IUCN Management Unit for the joint initiative known as ECOLEX.  

The ELC plays an active role in the context of water law and deals with multiple topics (i.e. the effects of climate change over water resources, the sustainable and integrated management of freshwater and other natural resources, transboundary water governance, the human right to water and sanitation, etc.).

The ELC offers technical advice and supports the reform of water legislation towards integrated management around the world. It develops legal analyses and publications on existing water legislation in different countries, showing their strengths and weaknesses and providing recommendations to guide normative changes. It contributes to building capacity for effective policy implementation, enforcement of norms and good water governance.

For more information visit the website. 

Regional Offices

IUCN has offices in more than 45 countries and runs hundreds of projects around the world. We have member organizations in more than 160 countries and a network of 10,000 voluntary scientists and experts spanning the globe. Members within a country or region are often organized into National and Regional Committees to promote cooperation and help coordinate the Union's work.

The Regional Offices participating in BRIDGE are:

• Regional Office for Asia (ARO)
• Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Carribbean (ORMACC)
• Regional Office for South America (SUR)
• Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa (ESARO)
• Regional Office for West and Central Africa (PACO) 

Donor

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is Switzerland’s international cooperation agency within the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). SDC is responsible for the overall coordination of development activities and cooperation with Eastern Europe, as well as for the humanitarian aid delivered by the Swiss Confederation.

The goal of development cooperation is that of reducing poverty. It is meant to foster economic self-reliance and state autonomy, to contribute to the improvement of production conditions, to help in finding solutions to environmental problems, and to provide better access to education and basic healthcare services.

For more information visit the SDC website.