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News / 22 March 2022

World Water Day: just climate solutions already exist

These past weeks we have been joining the #WeWomenAreWater campaign to put the spotlights on just climate solutions of and for women, girls, trans, intersex and non-binary people around the world. The campaign started on International Women's Day (March 8th) and ends today, on World Water Day. Just climate solutions already exist but these initiatives are grossly underfunded, and the people implementing them are also those most impacted by climate change and climate-related water scarcity. Therefore, we would like to highlight, especially today on World Water Day, some of these solutions below. And we also have a special message from the colleagues at Both ENDS working on inclusive water governance.

Here, you find the short video-messages from our collegueas Murtah Shannon (above) Melvin van der Veen (below).

Philippines: The People's Plan for Manila Bay

Both ENDS supports Kalikasan's visionary People's Plan, a participatory environmental governance initiative that aims to empower communities along the bay to play a meaningful role in the management of their ecosystem. "We work with Both ENDS because a Negotiated Approach enables communities to effectively influence stakeholders who are working in the local areas", says Leon Dulce from NGO Kalikasan.

 

Faith and life in a wetland without borders 

The world's largest freshwater wetland connects the lives of no less than 160 million people in five countries. The wetland, known as the La Plata Basin, feeds communities and ecosystems along a meandering path that reaches from the Andes to the Río de la Plata. As part of the Wetlands without Borders programme, Both ENDS is supporting partners in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as they work together to build a powerful transnational people's movement to match the movement of the water. Here you can find the 2021 successes of this programme!

Inclusive water governance sytem in Kenya

Violet Matiru from MCDI Kenya (Millennium Community Development Initiatives) explains: "We have been able to connect the various Water Resources Management Authorities in the Athi River basin to form the Athi River Community Network. This way, they can inspire one another other and teach each other the lessons they have learned. But we know: the solution is different for each location. When you don't take the local situation into account, the odds of causing a conflict over water are much higher. This is why it is best to work with the local communities themselves."

Bangladesh: Involving communities for free rivers

Uttaran (Bangladesh) advocates for the ecological restoration of tidal rivers using Tidal River Management (TRM). This nature-based approach is inspired by indigenous practices: local communities were already used to flooding the plains in a controlled way, resulting in a new layer of fertile soil and enhancing the river basin's drainage capacity. In their advocacy for TRM, Uttaran supports local communities as rightful and knowledgeable actors in the management of tidal river basin.

More information:

The above examples are just a few of the many different ways people can and do manage their water resources in al sustainable, inclusive and just way, in order to protect them for current and future generations. Below, you can find more related content.

 

 

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