To the democratic, sustainable and equitable management of 15 river basins worldwide This commitment by the undersigned civil society organisations from all over the world will officially be presented and discussed in the Citizen’s Forum on Participatory IWRM at the World Water Forum in Marseille. Friday March 16th 2012 from 9.30 to 11.30 hrs. at ‘Maison du Citoyen et de L’eau’ - Hall 3, room 1.2.4
The challenge The increasing scarcity of freshwater in both quantity and quality throughout the world has generated a range of institutional responses over the last few decades. Of these, the most well-known is probably the call for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Though the principles and concepts of IWRM are widely accepted, its implementation in practice has had mixed results. Plans tend to be centralized and engineering driven while due diligence calls for a decentralized interdisciplinary approach which is based on extensive local consultations and effective participation. IWRM plans are often based on assumptions about the needs of local communities and the local state of water resources rather than being directly rooted in those realities. Local communities are rarely involved in decision making on water resources allocation or utilization. Local customs, traditions and laws related to water management are insufficiently recognized or accommodated into IWRM frameworks or national water legislation. Often concerns with the long-term environmental sustainability of water management practices are not taken into account and available water is inequitably allocated, some-
times even infringing on the human right to water for personal purposes and undermining the human right to (produce) food. These are the central challenges facing us.
Our solution We are civil society organisations working on bottom-up, inclusive and sustainable approaches to IWRM in various river basins all over the world. Our approaches and initiatives show that local actors have detailed knowledge of their natural environment and automatically adopt an ecosystemic and holistic approach to resources management. They are able express their needs, challenges and ambitions with regard to water uses and take a lead in water management at river basin level. For the sake of equity and sustainability, a truly participatory process leading to negotiated arrangements for sharing water amongst local communities, sharing water with nature itself, food production and with future generations is imperative. Our solution is to base water resource management plans on the direct input and initiatives of local people and facilitate profound negotiation processes between all stakeholders, reserving sufficient water in each catchment for the needs of ecosystems.