Goal 3

Living Deltas

The Living Deltas Research Hub is funded for five years (2019-2024) and operates across four delta systems – Red River, Mekong deltas in Vietnam; the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna system in Bangladesh and India. We call these socio-ecological systems. The Living Deltas Hub’s AIM is to tackle the problem of delta degradation in the face of multiple threats (sea level rise and saline intrusion, mangrove degradation and loss of coastal buffering, climate change, population rise, land use changes, saline intrusion and communities health and well-being, unsustainable engineering interventions: damming, sand mining etc.). GCRF also aims at helping to delta countries to better achieve their UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Voluntary National Review agendas. The Hub aims to achieve its objectives via a process of CAPACITY-BUILDING though EQUITABLE PARTNERSHIP – only by doing this will the Hub have legacy beyond its five-year funding period. As such, this is an extremely ambitious research program – the most ambitious that the UK Research Councils have done up to now. The Hub is truly interdisciplinary and brings together the natural and physical sciences, the social sciences and the arts & humanities on an equal basis to seek new solutions (building on the research already carried out in the delta countries) to complex, intertwined issues through capacity-building and knowledge co-production towards BETTER DELTA FUTURES.

Keywords: Delta, Sustainability, Resilience, equitable livelihoods, socio-ecological systems

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A national survey on experiences of discrimination and social attitudes towards LGBT people in Thailand

There is a lack of comprehensive research on attitude toward LGBT people and challenges they face, making it difficult for advocates, development partners and policy makers to promote effective policies and make informed decisions. To address this the ‘Being LGBTI in Asia’ UNDP program, which is aimed at advancing the well-being of LGBTI people and reducing inequality and marginalization on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, supported a study in collaboration with Love Frankie and AIT. This national study examined the experiences of and social attitudes towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. It involved a survey with 2,210 participants from across the country, including 1,349 LGBT people and 861 non-LGBT people, and focus group discussions in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phitsanulok and Pattani. The study found that there are overall favourable attitudes towards LGBT people in Thailand and significant support for inclusive laws and policies, but also persistent experiences of stigma and discrimination, violence and exclusion.

Keywords LGBT, SOGIE, Gender Equality, Thailand

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Economic and Social Impact Assessment of the Municipal Water Supply System Improvement in the Slum Areas of Mandalay, Myanmar

As requested by JICA-RI, AIT acted as a technical advisor to the impact assessment of urban water supply in Myanmar. JICA has supported the effort of the Government of Myanmar to expand the access to safe water and to improve the water supply system in the managerial and the technical manner. The project was implemented for the introduction of the water supply system in Pyi Gyi Tagon Township and disinfection facilities for the existing water supply systems in other parts of Mandalay. JICA normally measures the outcomes of water supply projects in terms of served population or the daily maximum water flow rate. This project assessed the household-level impacts on the economic and social aspects of the livelihoods and health of the beneficiaries. The survey data were collected in 2018 and 2019, with which the panel data set was constructed. Currently, the data analysis is underway, and the results will be reported to the Mandalay City Development Council (MCDC) and wider scientific audience in due course.

Keywords urban water supply, impact assessment, economic impact, social impact, panel survey, Giffen goods

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Building a participatory civic platform in Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan through project-based ecotourism for the mitigation of ocean plastic pollution

Based on the request from Prefectural University of Hiroshima, AIT acts as a focal point in Thailand for this trilateral civic engagement project to address the ocean plastic pollution problem. Annually, eight million metric tons of plastic waste is discharged into the oceanic zone, causing serious damage to fisheries and cultural ecosystems in each country. This project will examine the potential for problem solving based on civic participation by assessing a new ecotourism model, building a civic platform, and establishing a system for monitoring, analysis, and communication of the plastic pollution through partnership with Iriomote Island, where Japan’s first ecotourism association has been spearheading the monitoring, analysis, and communication of garbage washed ashore, as well as Prefectural University of Hiroshima and Vietnam National University Hanoi Campus. Thailand and Vietnam were selected since market economy has penetrated and world-class tourism destinations flourish. The project will also engage participants from other countries in ASEAN such as Lao PRD and Cambodia.

Keywords plastic pollution, ocean environment, microplastics, common-pool resource management, ecotourism, multilateral partnership

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What is Essential is Invisible’: Empowerment and Security in Economic Projects for Low-Income Women in Four Mekong Countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam)

This research project, using both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, focused on women’s economic empowerment and social protection projects in four Mekong countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. It involved an exploration of the gaps between the level of policy makers and intended beneficiaries in terms of their conceptions of the ideas of empowerment and security and their perceptions of what is happening on the ‘ground’. In addition, the research examined under what conditions empowerment (as locally defined) and an increase in a sense of security (again, as locally defined) came as a result of economic empowerment and social protection projects, and under what conditions there was no such apparent benefit – or even negative effects – in spite of the well-meaning intentions of the projects. One key finding is that empowerment is not a single recipe, it needs to be contextualized, and that for a large number of low income women in the four countries, empowerment was a social or relational process, an aspect of empowerment often neglected by donors and development practitioners.

Keywords Economic Empowerment, Income, Gender, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam

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Gender and unpaid work in Lao PDR

Women’s unpaid work responsibilities in Laos is restricting women to take up productive work. Access to water and electricity, as well as childcare services are essential for rural women to utilize the economic opportunities. The study called for better childcare services in the rural communities.

Keywords Laos, women, childcare, unpaid work

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Into the light: Female youths migrant workers in fishing industry and their access to decent work, education, and social protection

There are many young migrants from Cambodia to Thailand, who migrant alone or with their family members. The study explored the opportunity cost of such decision to migrate and the advantage that they might get by migrating. The study showed the struggle that young women migrants face to balance their own aspiration and their family responsibilities. There is an opportunity cost for youths to migrate and they need to forego their chances of higher education and network building back home.

Keywords migration, women, youths, fishing community, Cambodia, Thailand, education

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