BRIDGE in the Sekong, Sesan and Sre Pok river basins (BRIDGE 3S)

participantsPhoto: © IUCN Asia

 

Project Title: Building River Dialogue and Governance in the Sekong, Sesan and Sre Pok river basins (BRIDGE 3S) 

Location: Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam 

Duration: January 2016 to December 2018 

Project Background: The 3S rivers, as the Sesan, Sekong and Sre Pok rivers are collectively known, are the only trans-boundary tributaries of the Mekong. The 3S river basin provides sustenance to over 3 million people across three countries, and will continue to play a significant role in the economic growth of the region.  

Collaborative governance is central to the sustainable and efficient use of the water resources of the trans-boundary 3S rivers. IUCN, under the umbrella of the BRIDGE project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, supports Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam in establishing frameworks to implement a long-term water resources management strategy for the basin

The BRIDGE (Building River Dialogue and Governance) Project aims to build water governance capacities through learning, demonstration, leadership, and consensus building, in particular in transboundary river basins.

Objectives of the project: 

To promote a shared vision for sustainable use of water resources in the 3S river basin, IUCN is working towards achieving the following objectives:

• Establishing frameworks for institutional arrangements and trans-boundary collaborations
As a preliminary approach to building a comprehensive governance road map for the 3S basin, a bilateral river basin committee will be established in the Sekong river basin. Appropriate country-driven frameworks for institutional arrangements will be developed in the Sesan and Sre Pok basins.

• Enriching and fortifying knowledge sharing platforms
Situational analyses performed to fill in knowledge gaps, as well as secondary information on the 3S river basin, will be consolidated and hosted within an accessible online database. Stakeholders can use this database as a knowledge resource hub.

 Enhancing leadership and governance capacities
Training programmes on water resources management concepts, such as environmental flows and hydro-diplomacy will be offered to local leadership to encourage integrated water resources management and policy advocacy engagement.

Expected Outputs:

  • Transboundary governance reforms are implemented
  • Negotiation and understanding of water governance and sharing benefits are improved in 9 watersheds
  • New multi-stakeholders platforms, including the voice of the poor, are established
  • Cooperation mechanisms trialed and strengthened, including data exchange, technical coordination and joint planning
  • Water charters and transboundary codes-of conduct are implemented
  • Trust between stakeholders is fostered and is the basis of good transboundary relationships and conflict prevention

Donor and Partner:  Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC)

 

Relevant documents: