ACTO member countries bring together decision-makers, experts and civil society to promote strategic actions for the integrated management of Amazonian waters

 

 

In the context of the Amazon Basin Project, Bolivia, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela held National Workshops for the implementation of the Strategic Actions Program – SAP, marking the dynamics of the second half of 2023. The SAP is a Regional Strategy that was endorsed in 2017 by the eight member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) to ensure the integrated and sustainable management of transboundary water resources in the Amazon Basin. The implementation of the Program is carried out with the support of the Amazon Basin Project (ACTO/UNEP/GEF).

The six countries brought together government representatives at national, departmental and local levels, experts, indigenous authorities and civil society in their National Workshops to promote strategic actions aimed at strengthening Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) capacity at national and regional levels, as well as increasing the resilience of local Amazonian communities to the challenges of climate change.

At the regional cooperation level, the National Workshops were held to identify challenges and opportunities for Amazonian cooperation in IWRM and to indicate ways to ensure the availability of consistent information throughout the Amazon Basin to support decision-making.

The cycle of National Workshops opened in August with Bolivia, in the capital La Paz. In September, Colombia and Peru held their workshops in the cities of Leticia and Lima respectively. Suriname and Guyana were the hosts at the beginning of October, bringing together participants in the capitals Paramaribo and Georgetown. In November, Caracas was chosen to host the Venezuelan National Workshop. Brazil and Ecuador will hold their National Workshops in early 2024.

 

Program and work methodology

Organized by the national governments of the six countries, with the support of the ACTO Permanent Secretariat, the National Workshops followed a methodology and work dynamics aimed at identifying technical, institutional and cultural advances and challenges for the implementation of the SAP.

Over two days, the 310 participants worked in thematic groups to address the technical and cultural dimensions of water management in the Amazon and define recommendations for the formulation of a National Action Plan – NAP.

The NAP will be a document aligned with national policies and will cover various actions within the scope of implementing the SAP. These include the institutional strengthening of IWRM, an IWRM Training Program, the monitoring of water resources, as well as a focus on cultural aspects related to water and measures to adapt to climate change in the Amazon Basin.

As gender equality represents a cross-cutting element in all the SAP and NAP actions, the National Workshops offered their audience Gender Equity/Gender Equality Training to increase and make more effective the participation of women in water management in the Amazon Region.

The thematic groups were accompanied by experts and members of the responsible government bodies, who collaborated and provided guidance to ensure the success of the work. At the end of the National Workshops, the results obtained by the thematic groups and the gender training group were shared with all those present.

 

IWRM technical group

The groups that addressed the technical aspects of IWRM at the National Workshops highlighted national progress in implementing the SAP. In terms of strengthening IWRM, the Bolivian group, for example, highlighted the inclusion of the transboundary basin approach in the update of the National Water Resources Policy. For their part, participants in the Peruvian workshop pointed to the role of creating Basin Water Resources Councils for participatory water management, while in Suriname, the group noted the start of a study into water pollution problems related to gold mining, a critical problem in the country.

Assessing the aspects of the SAP that still need to be developed at national and regional level, workshop participants indicated that monitoring and data exchange between countries, the development of a regional emergency plan, especially for flood and drought risks, and the dynamization of established agreements were among the priorities.

The groups also mentioned training needs in methodologies to optimize IWRM, the calibration of remote sensors, real-time monitoring technologies, principles of international law on shared waters, procedures for monitoring water quality, among others. The importance of recovering knowledge about traditional and local water management practices was also mentioned.

 

Cultural Group

To demonstrate the importance of the cultural dimension in implementing the SAP, the National Workshops opened with artistic presentations that highlighted the richness and cultural diversity of each country in the context of the Amazon. The working groups then identified the main cultural, artistic and educational institutions and organizations in the Amazon context, with the aim of forming a regional network to support the SAP.

The groups also contributed to an Amazonian cultural, artistic and educational agenda committed to the processes of effective inclusion of indigenous peoples, the revalorization and visibility of local knowledge, the exchange of experiences and inter-scientific dialogue.

 

 

Gender training

To promote gender integration in the implementation of the SAP, the National Workshops held an awareness-raising conference for all participants, followed by training for 86 people with the aim of developing capacities for planning and implementing policies, plans, programs and projects.

The trainings provided participants with theoretical and practical methodologies and tools for gender mainstreaming. The central tool – the Gender Mainstreaming Scanner, developed by ECLAC and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in 2021 – can be applied tactically in the different phases of plans, programs and projects.

The skills acquired in the training will enable IWRM professionals to work to promote and establish gender equity, contributing to men and women having equal access to and control over natural resources, the substantive participation of women in the governance of natural resources and the equitable distribution of socio-economic benefits.