Oxfam Transboundary Water Governance TROSA 2016-2022

GENERAL UPDATE The activity period for TROSA will come to and end in October 2022 after a no-cost extension with 7 months. Oxfam expressed during the annual meeting in April their intention to submit a proposal for a second phase of TROSA. This has then been discussed further during the year not least in relation to the field visit in Nepal when the annual learning forum took place which gathers all TROSA partners. An end- of programme evaluation has taken place this year, which is crucial both in understanding the relevance and level of achievements of the programme, but also in deciding and guiding on a possible new phase. - There have been major external challenges during the recent implementation of TROSA; Covid19 second wave, political setbacks such as the military coup in Myanmar (February 2021) and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) amendments in India (October 2020). TROSA has shown adaptive and innovative planning and implementation responding to these challenges. RESULTS ACHIEVED OUTCOME 1 Government policies and practices in water resources management are more inclusive of community concerns and meet national and international standards - Through Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSP) civic participation and engagment, the program mobilized affirmative actions from governments, including additional financial resources for different development interventions which communities proposed and asked for. For example, four municipal authorities in the program districts in Nepal along the Mahakali River allocated equivalent to USD 546,846 for various water-focused interventions such as repairing irrigation channels and flood embankments, facilities for safe drinking water and tunnel farming to support local livelihoods. - The government of Bangladesh is considering revisiting the existing top-down and stringent hilsa fisheries management, which includes a fishing ban for almost 65 days without adequate social protection measures, for thousands of small-scale fishers and started engaging with marginalized fisherfolk communities through local-level consultations organized as part of sk River Meetings. - Through a joint India-Bhutan-Bangladesh regional dialogue forum on fisheries governance, the program facilitated the agreement for a basin-level multi-stakeholder platform (MSP) on hilsa fisheries. This MSP will also cover other fisheries issues and will act as an interface with some of the regional initiatives like the Expert Group on Fisheries and Livestock establishedby the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). OUTCOME 2 Practices of private sector respect community access to water resources actively contributing to reduce conflict. - At the regional Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Promoting Cross-border Trade through Trans-boundary Waterways (Sept 2021), different stakeholders from Bhutan, India and Bangladesh collectively agreed for the establishment of a regional multi-stakeholder platform on inland water trade and tourism. This MSP will facilitate continuous engagment among different stakeholders on this issue of cross-border inland water trade and tourism. This will also act as an interface with other national and regional agencies such as the inland water authorities in Bangladesh and India and other multi-lateral development banks such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank who are investing in inland water trade and tourism infrastructure in the Brahmaputra basin. - To build on evidence on companies responsibilities to respect and protect community rights and environment, the program supported a detailed analysis of the responsibilities of the companies involved in the Salween dams. It focused on project developers and investors under international and national business and human rights frameworks, with specific reference to human rights and conflict. These companies are primarily from China, Thailand, and Myanmar. OUTCOME 3 CSOs increasingly participate in or influence trans-boundary water governance, women inclusion and resolution of water conflicts. - The program facilitated interface between the GBM CSO Network, which is a coalition of 35 CSOs from the GBM basins, and the Indian Governments Ministry of Jal Shakti officials as part of the Ministrys webinar series on international cooperation in water sector in India. This interface was an opportunity for network members to directly engage and interact with high-ranking decision-makers and propose ways for more inclusive water governance and water cooperation mechanisms, including ways to improve community participation through innovative approaches like Citizen Water Observatories (CWOs) and investment in traditional practices and nature-based solutions (NbS) such as bandalling to tackle river erosion. - The program supported local civil society platforms for river protection and flee flowing rivers such as t"Save Teesta, Save River Coalition" in the Teesta basin (between Bangladesh and India) to present their views and concerns to relevant government authorities. The CSO platform submitted a memorandum with their demands for protection of the Teesta River to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh through the finance minister for implementation of the Teesta mega project. OUTCOME 4 River basin communities increasingly influence in trans-boundary water governance policies and processes - Water quality data generated through the Citizen Water Observatories, most of which are women-led, were used for engagement with local public and private stakeholders to improve municipal solid waste management and wastewater treatment practices of sugar distilleries in the Mahakali/Sharda basin. Water quality and pollution are less-discussed issues in transboundary water discourse in the GBM basin region and there is a growing recognition for the inclusion of water pollution issues in existing hydro diplomacy initiatives due to its transboundary nature. - With an aim to get more recognition and promotion of locally adapted and nature-based solutions (NbS) to mitigate river erosion, the program has adopted a multi-pronged strategy of pilot demonstration, field visits, community-scientists/engineers interaction and dialogue with local authorities to promote bandalling- using bamboo instead of grey infrastructure. This year, 75 new bandals were installed and 18 existing ones were repaired in two locations across the Teesta and Jinjiram river basins in Bangladesh. OUTCOME 5 Increased participation and influence of women in trans-boundary water governance, policies & processes - Women-led advocacy initiatives like citizen science for water quality in Mahakali (Nepal and India) and fishers right in Brahmaputra resulted in more evidence-informed multi-stakeholder dialogue and actions. Based on the citizen science water quality data and local level women-led advocacy to reduce water pollution from non-managed municipal solid waste, three local municipalities along the Mahakali River started work on their municipal sanitation plans. Three grassroots women leaders from program partners in India were recognized among forty-one Women Water Champions (WWCs) and commended by India's water resources ministry and UNDP India. - Youth engagment and leadership was a major focus. The program selected the first cohort of fourteen Youth Basin Ambassadors, eleven of whom were women. These YBAs collectively designed the Regional Youth Dialogue (RYD) on Water, Climate and Human Rights. The RYD sessions and the Youth Basin Ambassadors network helped these young persons from Nepal, India and Bangladesh to co-design four proposals that looked at issues such as media narrative and youths perception on regional water issues in the GBM basins.