Human Rights and Gender Equality Issues to be integrated into Dutch Delta Planning
Lessons Learned from the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Plan. Policy brief, October 2019, by Pippi van Ommen, Leon Dulce and Giacomo Galli.
Ongoing coastal development programs pose various threats to civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of fisherfolk and urban poor communities across the coasts of Manila Bay, a semi-enclosed marine water body whose coasts and watersheds are home to 23.21 million people. In this context, the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE), a Filipino national environmental campaign centre conducted a rapid action research to assess the human rights and gender inequality risks and impacts of land reclamation in Manila Bay.
The assessment was done through the support of the Fair Green and Global Alliance led by Both ENDS, and shows what types of rights violations are directly related to developments in Manila Bay, including harassment by military, attempted assassination, arson, limited consultation and a failure in addressing lack of information and fear among communities.
For Manila Bay, it is recommended that a more comprehensive human rights and gender inequality risk and impact assessment be required to all proponents of reclamation, rehabilitation, master planning, and other coastal development activities.
Read more about this subject
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News / 26 July 2021
CSOs call upon Dutch government not to support destructive land reclamation in Manila Bay
Both ENDS, together with nine other parties has expressed their concern on the development of a new airport off the coast in Manila Bay, Philippines, where the Dutch company Royal Boskalis Westminster has been contracted for the land development. In a joint letter of concern, different organisations and stakeholders describe the alarming situation around this contested airport that will be built on newly reclaimed land.
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News / 22 March 2021
The importance of a gender perspective in Dutch water policies
An increasing number of stakeholders in the Dutch water sector are acknowledging the importance of an inclusive approach to climate adaptation. However, where our knowledge institutes and companies are involved in delta plans and master plans, as in Bangladesh and the Philippines, this approach is proving difficult to apply in practice. Taking local realities, vulnerabilities and inequalities – such as those between men and women – as a starting point is essential for good plans that give everyone the opportunity to adapt to climate change.
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Blog / 1 February 2019
If you walk the footsteps of a stranger...
Guest blog
Saturday morning, call time at the office is five o'clock. The group of ten people arriving is still half asleep. Like almost every weekend Kalikasan PNE, the organisation where I'm conducting my internship, organizes a field trip. Today, we will we visit one of the fisher communities in Bulakan, where the new airport of Manila is planned.
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News / 20 September 2019
Call for solidarity with Philippine environmental rights defenders
We are shocked and alarmed by the news of a planned raid into the headquarters of an environmental organisation in the Philippines. Although the raid has not materialised until now, we are deeply concerned for their wellbeing.
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News / 5 July 2019
Philippines: The People’s Plan for Manila Bay
Manila Bay is crucial site for biodiversity and home to over 23 million people, but their wellbeing is at risk due to reclamation projects, which are part of a large-scale top-down masterplan for the bay. It is estimated that more than 11 million people are threatened with displacement due to land reclamations and related disaster risks. As an alternative, Kalikasan is developing a People's Plan.
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Transformative Practice
A Negotiated Approach for Inclusive Water Governance
A Negotiated Approach envisages the meaningful and long-term participation of communities in all aspects of managing the water and other natural resources on which their lives depend. It seeks to achieve healthy ecosystems and equitable sharing of benefits among all stakeholders within a river basin. This inclusive way of working is an essential precondition for the Transformative Practices that are promoted by Both ENDS and partners.
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News / 14 June 2021
Concerns about a new airport in vulnerable Manila Bay
In Manila Bay, a vulnerable coastal area next to the Philippine capital city, a new airport is being planned, with involvement of the Dutch water sector. Local civil society organisations raised their concerns about this airport, which has large impact on the lives of local residents and on the ecosystem.
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Press release / 25 May 2022
Award of export support for controversial project in Manilla undermines the Netherlands’ environmental and CSR ambitions
Dutch export credit agency Atradius DSB announced yesterday that it is to provide export credit insurance worth 1,5 billion euros to Dutch dredging company Boskalis for a controversial land reclamation project in the Philippines. According to Dutch and international organisations, including Both ENDS, CARE Netherlands, IUCN NL, Kalikasan PNE and Oceana Philippines, the award of export credit insurance for this project runs contrary to the Netherlands' ambitions in the areas of environment and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
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News / 28 September 2018
Joan Carling is awarded with the UN’s highest environmental honor!
We congratulate Joan Carling, member of the permanent commission on indigenous peoples of the UN, for having received the Lifetime Achievement Award as 'Champion of the Earth' by the UN Environment! This is the UN's highest environmental honor, given to six of the world's most outstanding environmental change makers once a year.
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News / 14 March 2018
Call for solidarity with Philippine human rights defenders
We are shocked and alarmed by the news that the Philippine government has declared a list of 600 people to be communist terrorists. On the list are mostly indigenous leaders, environmental activists and human rights defenders. Among them are some of our partners, and we are deeply worried about them and the other people on this list.
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External link / 29 May 2019
Women say “no” to mining (Annual Report 2018)
Mining often has a huge and devastating impact on the environment, including water, air and forests. It can profoundly affect nearby communities, not only by harming local ecosystems, but also by exacerbating or provoking societal tension. In many places across the globe, women are leading resistance to mining and the 'extractivist' model.
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Event / 8 June 2018, 16:00 - 18:00
The experiences of indigenous leaders in the Philippines
The International Institute of Social Studies, Both ENDS, IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands and Mama Cash invite you for presentations by Joan Carling, indigenous leader and women's rights activist from the Philippines and member of the permanent commission on indigenous peoples of the UN, and Jan van de Venis, Human Rights Lawyer at JustLaw, about the experiences of indigenous leaders in the Philippines, in a world of increasing oppression and human right violations against environmental activists.