Integrated Water Management of the Lower Mekong Basin

Projekt abgeschlossen

 

The Mekong River holds immense economic, social, ecological, and cultural importance. An estimated forty million people, living in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam, rely on the river to support their agriculture and fisheries. In 2011, SDC reinstated its support to the Mekong River Commission (MRC), an inter-governmental institution, to contribute to equitable development and environmental protection in the Lower Mekong Basin.

Land/Region Thema Periode Budget
Mekong
Governance

Politik des öffentlichen Sektors
01.09.2011 - 30.06.2017
CHF 3'955'000
Hintergrund

Despite unprecedented economic growth rates in the Lower Mekong Basin countries over the past decade, the region remains one of the world’s poorest. More than 60 percent of breadwinners in these countries hold occupations related to water. Therefore, rural poor, ethnic minorities, and disadvantaged women, are vulnerable to changes in water availability and accessibility.

In recent years, numerous hydropower projects, large-scale land acquisitions for agro-industrial use, tourism infrastructure, mining, and climate change have changed the flow of water in the Lower Mekong Basin. These developments have put pressure on the people whose livelihoods have traditionally depended on use of water resources.

The challenge currently facing the Lower Mekong Basin countries is how to support local people’s livelihoods in an changed water use regime. Equitable development, which benefits all water users, will require coordinated responses and cross-border collaboration by all of these countries.

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) plays an increasingly important role as the facilitator of inter-governmental cooperation and water-related conflict resolution. The MRC was established as a knowledge-based intergovernmental organization through the, 1995 Agreement, to join the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam together to fulfill a common vision of “an economically prosperous, socially just and environmentally sound Mekong River Basin”. Its objective is to promote regional cooperation to achieve poverty alleviation, gender equality, and sustainable development through equitable use and management of water resources in the Mekong Region.

Ziele

 

The overall goal for SDC’s support of the MRC is to spur its member countries to implement basin-wide integrated water resources management approaches in national policies and programs, leading to sustainable and equitable development of the river basin.

Resultate

Erwartete Resultate:  

SDC expects the Basin Development Plan to improve integrated basin planning; strengthen MRC procedures and socio-economic assessments that support basin development planning; develop institutional arrangements necessary to implement the basin development strategy; and improve capacity to implement integrated water resource management strategies. In Addition, Environment program is expected to result in improved environmental monitoring, assessment, and reporting as well as in enhanced environmental management mechanisms.

The Regional Flood Management and Mitigation Center is expected to develop towards a financially sustainable and professionally capable institution. The relevant line agencies and National Mekong Committees (NMCs) are able to use knowledge on Integrated Flood Risk Management. The member Countries and Dialogue Partners address trans-boundary flood issues, differences and disputes in an efficient, effective and coordinated way. They are able to conduct flood forecasting, impact assessment, modeling, monitoring and knowledge management on a routine, year round basis in the whole basin.


Verantwortliche Direktion/Bundesamt DEZA
Kreditbereich Entwicklungszusammenarbeit
Projektpartner Vertragspartner
Andere internationale Organisation
  • Other OI
  • SDC Field Office


Andere Partner

DANIDA, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), AusAID, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and local NGOs.

Budget Laufende Phase Schweizer Beitrag CHF   3'955'000 Bereits ausgegebenes Schweizer Budget CHF   3'483'694
Projektphasen

Phase 1 01.09.2011 - 30.06.2017   (Completed)