Advancing Water Security of Marginalized Communities Living Along Karnali Ganges River Basin in Nepal, India and Bangladesh

WaterAid Bangladesh and Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER), BRAC University have been honored to receive funding from the Asia Foundation to support the development of a project in Nepal, India and Bangladesh with ultimate goal of making transboundary water governance grounded in local contexts and be more inclusive and sustainable. The project aims to make transboundary water governance grounded in local contexts and be more inclusive and sustainable. The project will use civic engagement models to apply grass-root experiences in addressing ‘water insecurity ‘and build local capacity to engage with state authorities at multiple levels. Good practices in locally grounded management strategies will be fed upwards to national level decision-makers and shared through collaborative platforms with other countries, to support evidence-based advocacy for policy change.

Water security (reliable access to sufficient quantity and quality of water for basic needs, small-scale livelihoods and local eco-system services) is a human right and driver of development for poor and marginalized communities. For those living along the Karnali-Ganges river basin in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, this is being increasingly undermined by the complex and multiple national and regional hydro-political agendas that drive the governance processes without due regard for rights, equity or sustainability. The water security of the Ganges river basin communities in east India and south-west Bangladesh are impacted by floods, prolonged water logging, droughts, significant reduction in water availability (due to up-stream diversion of river water), over-extraction, water contamination (fluoride, arsenic), all of which is further exacerbated by erratic climatic conditions and lack of pro-poor water governance systems. Women face the most burdens, due to water insecurity, gendered roles relating to water and gender inequality in decision making. A common issue across all three countries is that centralized institutions follow a top-down approach in the decision-making on transboundary water issues with almost no community engagement.

Client: WaterAid Bangladesh

Project Duration: July 2016 - September 2017

Location: Shyamnagar, Shatkhira, Bangladesh

Activities Performed under the Project:

• Stakeholder Analysis in Water Sector of Bangladesh
• Technical Analysis on Water Management Issues in Shyamnagar Upazila
• Field Visit to India for Experience Sharing
• Local Level Sensitization Workshop
• National Stakeholder Workshop
• Water Management Plan of Shyamnagar Upazilla
• Policy Gap Analysis