Women as change-makers in the governance of shared waters
Photo: ©IUCN Water Programme
This paper targets an audience of policy-makers, practitioners and researchers who are interested in taking action, policy and research further on the issues of women's participation and gender rquality in the governance of shared waters. It combines a survey of the literature with a collection of case examples describing how women in Asia, Larin America, Europe and Africa are leading change on the groud in governing shared waters. This action-oriented piece takes stock of what we know so far to highlight policy measures that can alread be recommended, tested tools and approaches that can be harnesses in practice, while also suggesting topics for further research.
Champions of Water Governace
Photo: IUCN Water Programme
Leadership Building for Local to Transboundary Water Cooperation
This thematic case study reviews the diverse experience of the ‘Champions’ component’ of BRIDGE in Mesoamerica, South America, in the Lower Mekong region and in the Lake Chad Basin, to examine the factors of success and draw lessons for future initiatives that may choose to rely on change makers to effect transformative change. A number of testimonials tell us that the Champions’ component in BRIDGE has been successful in helping leaders build informal pathways for dialogue, unlocking new cooperation processes and linking local to national influence streams. Key findings, speak in favour of adopting leadership building as a deliberate strategy to catalyse change – one that must tread wisely and patiently according to the context in which it unfolds.
Le Bassin du Lac Tchad (BLT)
Bâtir le dialogue pour améliorer la gouvernance transfrontalière des ressources en eau dans le BLT
Le Bassin du Lac Tchad (BLT) est le plus large bassin endoréique d’Afrique, situé au Sahel et doté de ressources naturelles abondantes. C’est en effet une représentation typique d’une zone humide transfrontalière eutrophe qui s’étend à travers les frontières nationales du Niger, du Nigeria, du Tchad et du Cameroun. Cependant, son bassin hydrographique s’étend jusqu’en République centrafricaine. Le Lac contribue de manière significative à la sécurité alimentaire d’une population estimée à 13 millions de personnes en 2013 dans un rayon d’environ 300 km, et est emblématique des défis auxquels doivent faire face les pays partageant des ressources en eau dans un contexte de dérèglement climatique.
Shinyanga Forest
Retrofitting resilience to the Shinyanga Forest landscape restoration case study
Shinyanga region has over 2.25 million people, an average growth rate of 2.8% p.a. (1990s), and covers 50,000 sq.km with a population density of 42 people per km2. The high population density, combined with the people's agro-pastoral land use system which depends on livestock, and subsistence and cash cropping, exacerbate already serious problems of land clearing both prior to, and after 1986.
This case study attempts to retrofit a resilience framwork to the Shinyanga restoration from the causes of resilience loss, recognition of the problems, to addressing them and creating resilience. It shows the importance of:
a) The adaptive capacities of the Sukuma people and their institutions; and
b) The importance of restoring diverse ecosystems and their services.
Tacaná Watersheds
Developing untapped potential: strengthening resilience through cross-sectoral collaboration
The watersheds of the Tacaná volcano, which stands at an altitude of 4,093 m, cover a transboundary area of 3,170 km² right in the middle of the border area of the Department of San Marcos, Guatemala and the State of Chiapas, Mexico. This area comprises the Coatán, Suchiate, Cosalapa and Cahoacán rivers.
The Coatán and Suchiate watersheds are shared by Guatemala and
Mexico. These watersheds are of great strategic importance for both countries as they supply water to a large number of residents in the cities downstream, and are the main source of irrigation for agriculture. In the lower reaches, fishing is an important source of income.
Wallowa County, Oregon, USA
Restoration of Forest Systems and Rural Livelihoods: A Partial Resilience Assessment of a Work in Progress
Wallowa County is located in north-eastern Oregon on the dry side of the Cascade Mountains. Ponderosa pine forest in lowe elevations and mixed conifer are the dominant ecotypes with rangelands and rivers making important contributions to the reource base for rural livelihoods. Duiring the 20th century, forestry, with associated wood products from manufacturing, and livestock production were the primary sources of private-sector livelihood, tax revenue and wealth needed to support a diverse small town economy in Enterprise (the county seat), Joseph, Lostine and Wallowa.
The Sixaola River Basin: Costa Rica and Panama
Reaching Agreements to Strengthen Transboundary Cooper
The Sixaola river basin is shared between Costa Rica and Panama. Since 2011, the BRIDGE project has worked to promote better cooperation around transboundary waters, implementing a non-conventional approach for hydrodiplomacy.
This document summerises the socioeconomic context of the basin, existing institutional arrangements, interventions by the BRIDGE project and advances of the Binational Commission of the Sixaola River Basin.
Goascorán Basin: Honduras and El Salvador
Revitalising cooperative management through expanding stakeholder involvement
The waters of the Goascorán River are shared between Honduras and El Salvador. Since 2011, BRIDGE has worked to promote better cooperation over transboundary waters, taking a non-conventional approach to water diplomacy. One of the challenges was the level of involvement in the institutional arrangement existing in the basin. The initial makeup of the Binationa Management Group (BMG) had a limited representation of Municipalities only giving the institution a narrow scope and legitimacy with stakeholders. There was a need to revitalise the BMG expanding the level of participation across scales and across sectors.
Environmental Flows
Demonstrations and knowledge sharing through regional and global networks to turn policy into action
Environmental flows improve water management by ensuring a sustainable water supply to meet the needs of people, agriculture, energy, industry and the environment. Environmental flows are effectively a balance between water resources development and the need to protect freshwater-dependent ecosystems.
WANI has contributed to environmental flow assessments in river basins in Asia, America, and Africa over the last 10 years with the aim of reducing environmental impacts and increasing the benefits of river basin development.
Through scaling-up, lessons learned have been mainstreamed into IWRM allowing for the capacity building of existing legislation and the establishment of new, appropriate legislation on environmental flows. This influence on IWRM and water policy has resulted in better water resources management.
Komadugu Yobe Basin, upstream of Lake Chad, Nigeria
Multi-stakeholder participation to create new institutions and legal frameworks to manage water resources
Inappropriate water management practices in the Komadugu Yobe Basin, upstream of Lake Chad in northern Nigeria, changed the seasonal river flow and caused widespread environmental degradation. Coupled with this was fragmented regulation and conflicting responsibilities among institutions, a lack of coordination for hydro-agricultural developments, inequitable access to water resources and growing tensions and risk of conflicts among water users.
As a response to this situation, WANI and partners initiated a process of coordination and participation of all stakeholders in dialogue to reverse the trends in natural resources degradation in the basin through integrated management.
Pangani River Basin, Tanzania
Building consensus on water allocation and climate change adaptation
Climate change and the over-exploitation of water resources is challenging the sustainability of the Pangani River Basin to deliver water services. Competition for diminishing water resources has led to tensions between the various stakeholders within the basin.
Together with the government of Tanzania and donor partners, WANI has responded to this crisis by supporting the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). This sought to bring together a variety of stakeholders by creating platforms for dialogue and encouraged collaboration towards a common goal.
The Pangani River Basin Management Project has generated technical information and developed participatory forums, mainstreamed climate change, supported the equitable provision and wise governance of freshwater for livelihoods and environment for current and future generations.
Mekong River Basin
Mobilising grassroots engagement and facilitating high-level dialogue for transboundary water management
The productivity of the Mekong River Basin is dependent on a dramatic process of flooding and recession, which endows the basin wide range of habitats. The timing, extent and duration of floods, and the regular inundation of habitats are all important factors in determining the productivity of the river.
This ecosystem is fundamental to the viability of natural resource-based rural livelihoods of a population of 55 million people living in the Lower Mekong Basin – equivalent to more than 90% of the population of the entire Mekong Basin, and about one third of the total population of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam combined.
Tacaná Watersheds, Guatemala & Mexico
Transboundary water governance and implementation of IWRM through local community action.
The watersheds of the Tacaná volcano, which stands at an altitude of 4,093 m, cover a transboundary area of 3,170 km² right in the middle of the border area of the Department of San Marcos, Guatemala and the State of Chiapas, Mexico. This area comprises the Coatán, Suchiate, Cosalapa and Cahoacán rivers.
The Coatán and Suchiate watersheds are shared by Guatemala and
Mexico. These watersheds are of great strategic importance for both countries as they supply water to a large number of residents in the cities downstream, and are the main source of irrigation for agriculture. In the lower reaches, fishing is an important source of income.
Volta River Basin, Ghana & Burkina Faso
Transboundary water management through multi-level participatory governance and community projects
The Volta River Basin in West Africa has a surface area of 400,000 km2, across six countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Togo. It is the ninth largest river basin in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Volta Basin is home to nearly 19 million people who depend directly or indirectly on the resources of the river. Therefore the Volta Basin is an important asset for the development of the riparian countries.
The Volta River Basin faces enormous development challenges. Poverty and increasing population pressure have led to the extensive exploitation of natural resources contributing to water scarcity, land degradation and the siltation of river channels.
The 3S River Basin (Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam)
Creating spaces for cooperation through multi-level dialogue and capacity building.
The Sesan, Sre Pok, and Sekong rivers, referred to as the 3S river basin, are shared by three countries and constitute a significant part of the Lower Mekong river basin. The BRIDGE project implements water diplomacy in transboundary basins, and is working in the 3S to build and strenghten water governance capacity.
