Both ENDS
In March 2009 Both ENDS attended the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, where we organised events on the right to water, the so-called 'negotiated approach' to catchment management, and the alignment of infrastructure related lobby of southern civil society groups.
The governmental body that is responsible for the management of water resources in Ghana, the Water Resources Commission (WRC), praises the ADAPTS method in which Both ENDS and partners are actively involved. In the preface of the Dayi River Basin Plan that was launched at the end of 2011, the commission expresses hopes for the extension of this method, currently being tested in a pilot in the Dayi river basin, to other river basins in Ghana.
Written by: Boy Mochran and Sheila Kartika, Telapak, Indonesia
For the first time in Indonesian history, a public committee has been established to assist the government in water resource management. The Lamasi River Basin Committee is a platform for governmental and non-governmental representatives in the Luwu District in southern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Together with the local government, this committee will plan and monitor policy implementation, as well as coordinate water resource management.
Our West-African partners in Integral Water Resource Management are rapidly taking steps forward. In Lomé (Togo) they have founded their own regional headquarters. The proud name of the center is ‘AfriwaterCoP’ ( Community of Practice). They strive to bring together stakeholders such as farmers, fishermen, companies and authorities for fair and sustainable use of river water. Slowly but surely they also convince more and more government officials that all these stakeholders should be able to think along and take part in the decision process. This should be adopted in rules and regulations of regional and national law in the concerning provinces and states.
The Pantanal, in the heart of South America, at the border of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, is the world’s largest freshwater wetland with an extremely rich biodiversity. Tourism and fishing are the main sources of income for the local population. This enormous natural area is invaluable for the water management of a large part of the continent, stretching all the way down to the Argentinian La Plata area, some 1,500 kilometres away. The area faces many threats and Both ENDS therefore already started actively supporting local organisations striving to protect the Pantanal in 1994.
