Goal 6

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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Strengthening Groundwater Governance in Rapidly Urbanizing Areas of the Lower Mekong Region

Groundwater plays a crucial role in the water security, poverty reduction and sustainable development of the Mekong region. However, in many countries either the groundwater is under-utilized or over exploited and at the same time affected by multiple stresses such as rapid urbanization, population growth, climate change and climate variability. Lack of good groundwater governance, absence of groundwater policies and laws, groundwater institutions, stakeholders’ participation and fragmented groundwater management with other aspects of socio-economic developments led to unsustainable management of groundwater in the Mekong region. The unsustainable management groundwater in the region, especially in rapidly urbanizing areas bring conflict among different sectors and vulnerable population such as poor, marginalized and ethnic people. Therefore, this project aims to evaluate the current state of groundwater governance in the region and recommend ways to improve or strengthen the groundwater governance based on evidence-based understanding of groundwater availability, its use and potential conflicts under multiple stresses in the future. The project is implemented through four case studies in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Keywords water insecurity, human rights, conflict sensitivity, groundwater institutional and policy framework

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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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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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