Water resources of Burma/Myanmar

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Description: Home Forecast Daily Weather Forecast (10)days Water Level Forecast Daily Water Level Forecast (10)Day Weather Forecast Monthly Weather Forecast Monthly Water Level Forecast Early/MID/Late Monsoon Weather Forecast Early/MID/Late Monsoon Water Level Forecast Sea Route Forecast El Nino - La Nina Warning Cyclone Warning Storm Surge Warning Flood Warning Strong Wind Warning Port Warning Untimely Rainfall Warning Heavy Rainfall Warning Minimum Alert Water level Fog Warning Tsunami Warning Scanty Rainfall Warning Bulletin New Records Flood Bulletin Significant Water Level Bulletin Minimum Water Level Bulletin AGRO-MET Bulletin Monsoon Rain Bulletin News Cyclone News Earthquake News DMH News Satellite Image MTSAT satellite image FY-Cast Satellite Image Natural Disaster Meteorological Disaster Cyclone Hydrological Disaster Flood Geological Disaster Earthquake Tsunami Disaster Risk Reduction About DMH Brief History Objective Organization Chart Divisions Meteorology Hydrology Seismology Upper Myanmar Lower Myanmar Agro-Meteorology Aviation Meteorology Instrument & Communication Trainings International Cooperation Multi-Hazard Early Warning Center Public Education Climate Change Acid Deposition Environmental Affairs
Source/publisher: http://www.dmh.gov.mm/
Date of entry/update: 2012-10-26
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
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Description: "The Myanmar Water Portal is an independent non-government platform, providing you a one-stop gateway to all Myanmar water sector news, business, events, contacts and projects..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Water Portal
2019-05-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-19
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "In the dry and arid central region of Myanmar, water for drinking and farming is scarce. Village communities eke out a living growing peanuts and sesame, walking or using bullock carts over long distances to get water for their homes and farms. Some communities have tried to dig ponds or install bore wells; others pay for water to those who own carts, to maintain their livelihoods and families. Climate risks are worsening the situation as dry seasons get longer and more intense; most young people are migrating to the cities..."
Creator/author: Rajesh Daniel, Plengvut Plengplang, Than Yailamyong, Pin Pravalprukskul, Agus Nugroho
Source/publisher: "Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)"
2018-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-13
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description: Situation Reports, Assessments, Technical Guidance, Reference Documents, Calendar, Meeting Minutes, Maps
Source/publisher: Water and Sanitation Cluster, HIC
Date of entry/update: 2008-06-04
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Source/publisher: FAO (Aquastat)
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Description: "Around 2018, residents living along the Yuam River in Northwest Thailand near the Thai-Myanmar border heard about renewed Thai government plans to dam the river and divert water to Central Thailand. Affected residents and civil society are concerned that the proposed Yuam River Water Diversion Project (hereafter, Yuam diversion) would have widespread negative social and environmental impacts, and damage the livelihoods of several resource-dependent communities. The Yuam diversion has met increasing resistance from affected communities, who argue their voices have been overlooked in decision-making. As Paiboon Hengsuwan argues, while Salween borderland communities generally oppose large dams and diversions due to concerns over resource access and control, they are not necessarily ‘anti-development’ and seek to shape development ‘on their own terms’, as we show in the case of the Yuam diversion. The transboundary Salween River commences in the Tibetan Plateau and runs through China and Myanmar, before forming the Thai-Myanmar border, and again flowing through Myanmar and into the Andaman Sea. The Yuam River flows from Northwest Thailand into the Salween River via the Moei River; both the Moei and Salween Rivers form stretches of the Thai-Myanmar border. The proposed Yuam dam site is around 14 kilometres from this border. Communities and civil society interviewees expressed concerns about the Yuam diversion’s cross-border implications, including for Karen spiritual and cultural values connected to the river, and for fish migrating between the Yuam and Salween Rivers. Despite this, downstream communities and relevant governing bodies in Myanmar have not been consulted. Large hydropower dams and water diversions have been proposed for more than four decades in the Salween River Basin. This includes hydropower dams proposed on the Salween mainstem, including Weigyi and Dagwin Dams on the river-border, and Hatgyi Dam in Karen State, with the latter dam reaching the EIA stage. These dams would affect, and are resisted by, riverine communities across both sides of the border. This includes ethnic Karen communities that reside on both sides of the border, which pre-dates the demarcation of the border during British colonial rule of Myanmar. Cross-border activism has been ongoing for decades in the Salween River Basin in response to proposed dams and diversions. For two decades, communities from Myanmar and Thailand, representing multiple ethnic groups and religions, have gathered along the Salween and its tributaries on the annual International Day of Action for Rivers (hereafter, March 14th Day) to celebrate and protect the river and natural environment, and oppose dams and diversions. However, since the February 2021 coup in Myanmar, violence and human rights abuses against civilians and activists have intensified, limiting such cross-border activism. Salween ‘borderland communities’ envision alternative forms of development to top-down authoritarian (hydro)development. For instance, the Salween Peace Park is a Karen-led initiative in Karen State and along Salween river-border that promotes conservation and community resource governance and control, including around the proposed Hatgyi Dam site. The Thai government has investigated transboundary water diversions from the Salween River Basin to Central Thailand since 1979, including from the Salween mainstem and tributary rivers such as the Yuam. In interviews, many older residents and activists recall hearing about these dams and diversions when they were young, with some resisting previous iterations. This includes Mae Lama Luang Dam on the Yuam River, which was proposed in the 1990s but never constructed due the project’s environmental impacts and resistance by affected communities, many of whom are now resisting the Yuam diversion. In 2016, the Thai government (re)examined several water diversion routes from the Salween River Basin to Bhumibol Dam, with the Yuam diversion emerging as the preferred option. The project is being developed by Thailand’s Royal Irrigation Department (RID). The Yuam diversion entails a 69.5-meter-high dam on the Yuam River, a water pumping station, and a 61-kilometer tunnel that would pass three Northern Thai provinces and several protected forest areas to divert water to Bhumibol Dam in the Chao Phraya River Basin. On 15 September 2021, this EIA was approved by Thailand’s National Environment Board (NEB). However, civil society and communities consider this EIA deeply flawed. While the project is estimated to cost 70 billion baht (US$2.1 billion) and take seven years to build, media outlets reported that a Chinese state-owned enterprise would build the project at around half the speed and cost, potentially as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. However, evidence of this is yet to be made publicly available. Methodology The research presented here (2021-ongoing) is based on in-depth interviews with affected community members, civil society actors – including activists, NGO employees and academics – and state actors, which were conducted as part of Zali’s PhD research. Mueda was a research assistant and English-Thai-Karen interpreter for this research. Mueda is a Karen activist, and has worked as an environmental and human rights defender in the Salween River Basin for decades. She was born as a stateless person near the proposed Yuam dam site, and has long advocated for citizenship rights for stateless peoples in Thailand. Zali and Mueda’s research was undertaken in Ban Uun[1], a village located along the Yuam River and near the proposed dam site. Residents identify as Pwo Karen and Sgaw Karen, and rely on multiple seasonally-dependent livelihood strategies including collecting edible forest products (e.g., riverbank vegetables, mushrooms, konjac and more), fishing and labour migration. Many residents lack Thai citizenship and/or land titles, and many respondents reflected on how this limits their capacity to claim compensation and confidence to overtly challenge state-led development projects. Research was also conducted in Ban Lao, a Pwo Karen community located near the end of the tunnel. Residents’ livelihoods are based on longan farming and collecting forest products, and many do not have formal land titles. The community will be impacted by the dumping of soil and rock debris from tunnel construction on their farmlands and forests. Socioenvironmental impacts Affected residents are concerned about a range of social and environmental impacts that would damage resource-dependent livelihoods. This includes concerns that the project would exacerbate flooding during the rainy season, and cause deforestation, including in protected forest areas and spiritually-significant forests. The Yuam and Salween Rivers contain rich aquatic biodiversity, including many migratory fish species, and respondents were concerned that the dam would block fish migration, as one young Ban Uun resident explained: “If they block the river with a dam, those fish cannot migrate” (Interview, September 2021). Fish are essential to residents’ livelihoods, both for consumption, and as a source of protein and income. In addition, a fisheries expert at Maejo University, Chai, expressed concern that the diversion could transfer aquatic species from the Salween to the Chao Phraya Basin, which share only around six common fish species, with potentially damaging effects. More broadly, there is evidence of dams’ negative impacts on fish and riverine livelihoods. For instance, the World Commission on Dams (WCD) reported a 60-80% decline in fish catch and reduced fish species directly upstream from Thailand’s Pak Mun Dam on the Mun River in the Mekong River Basin following the dam’s completion in 1994, although multiple anthropogenic factors may have contributed to this. This dam generated widespread resistance and shaped the politics of large dam construction in Thailand, the region and globally. In their 2000 report reviewing large dams globally, the WCD outlined the need for free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for communities affected by dams and development. A lack of FPIC in the development process for the Yuam diversion is a key reason behind community and civil society opposition to the project. Challenging the conditions of development Interviewees recounted several problems with the EIA process for the Yuam diversion, including a lack of meaningful public participation and FPIC. While numerous public hearings were conducted, participation was hindered in several ways. For instance, interviewees reported that public hearings were held in Central Thai language, and lacked translation into Karen languages, the primary languages of many affected residents. Many public hearings were held during the rainy season and/or under covid-19 restrictions, further hampering participation, particularly for remote communities. Significantly, residents and civil society were not given the opportunity to review, let alone contribute to, the EIA before it was approved by the NEB, directly going against the principles of FPIC. Civil society interviewees explained that the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), the agency responsible for approving the EIA, requested more than 20,000 baht (US$600) to provide access to the EIA; they were only provided with a heavily redacted copy after the EIA was approved. Many residents reported that project proponents only promoted the project’s ‘benefits’ during public hearings, and residents felt their voices were not included in decision-making, as one older Ban Uun resident explained: “When local people raise our concerns, the government doesn’t provide a response … when people disagree with the project, the government doesn’t record it in the EIA” (Interview, September 2021). Respondents provided several examples of incorrect information that was included the EIA, as one village leader, Chet, from Ban Uun explained: “I did not provide any support to the EIA, I did not discuss this in detail, we just spoke quickly [with the EIA team]. But the RID claims that we [Chet and his wife] support the project” (Interview, January 2022). Others felt that they were misrepresented by the EIA team. For instance, the headperson of Ban Uun told me that in a public hearing, the EIA team asked people who disagree with the project to raise their hands, and “they took a photo, and said ‘these people agree with the project’” (Interview, July 2021). Meanwhile, the headperson of Ban Lao felt the community has been “tricked” as journalists “misrepresented that the villagers and said they agree with the project” when they do not (Interview, February 2022). The EIA became satirically referred to as #EIALaab (#อีไอเอร้านลาบ) following an incident where the RID invited civil society members to lunch at a laab (meat salad) restaurant, during which photographs were taken and used as ‘evidence’ of public consultation. #EIALaab was used widely on social media, particularly by youth (Figure 3), and interviewees would often refer to ‘EIA laab’ with laughter. In contrast, a Thai politician who supports the project claimed that the EIA “is very meticulous. The EIA shows that this project is feasible, and does not damage anybody” (Interview, March 2022). RID officers also emphasised that the EIA was “in-depth” and conducted “according to the law” and included solutions to mitigate the project’s impacts (Interview, March 2022). However, as outlined above, many respondents disagree with these claims. The EIA has become a key site of contestation, illustrating how resistance is not only to the project itself but people’s capacity to ‘have a say’ in development. Resisting the Yuam diversion All residents that we interviewed at both fieldsites disagree with the Yuam diversion. A few residents explained that they initially supported the project, because they believed government rhetoric that it would generate jobs and improve livelihoods, but changed their minds once they learned more about the project’s impacts. The youth are leading overt resistance to the Yuam diversion, including through protests and activities on March 14th. In Ban Uun, March 14th activities often include a buat pa (บวชป่า), or tree ordination ceremony, where residents, activists and visitors tie Buddhist monks’ orange robes around trees to bless and protect them, including from development. In recent years, this ceremony has been strategically held on a forested riverbank that would be damaged by the Yuam diversion. Several participants positioned buat pa as a way to oppose the Yuam diversion. Many older residents and activists have resisted previous proposals for dams and diversions, saw these projects and struggles as connected over time and generations. Alternative visions Salween communities oppose large dams and water diversions due to their negative ecological and livelihood impacts. As shown here, rather than being ‘anti-development’, these communities seek to shape and participate in development and articulate their own visions for water and natural resource governance. For instance, in a 2021 letter to ONEP, Yuam and Salween residents stated that: “We seek to be included by the state in decision-making to … preserve natural resources and to protect the Salween River Basin.” As one young woman from a border village along the Salween explained: “We do not oppose development, but it must be good development … we oppose those that create negative impacts” (Interview, March 2022). Interviewees articulated alternative visions for river governance beyond hydrodevelopment. From a policy perspective, a water resources expert from Kasetsart University argued that rather than build the expensive Yuam diversion, the government should improve the efficiency of the water supply network, as “we have about 40% of water loss in the irrigation system due to inefficiency” (Interview, September 2021). Youth from affected communities questioned why the government would invest such large sums of money into a mega-project that would damage their resource-dependent livelihoods and futures, and suggested that this money should instead be invested into projects that would benefit their communities, including health, education and environmental protection. Others highlighted the need to manage water from a more holistic perspective. An NGO employee who has worked on Mekong and Salween issues for decades highlighted the need to manage and “understand water in different dimensions” (Interview, May 2021), while Chai reflected that the RID only knows “how to block the water … they don’t understand about anything inside the water, or the people.” Rather than building damaging dams and diversions, residents and civil society actors envision alternative forms of resource governance that protects the environment and resource-dependent livelihoods, including the Salween Peace Park and community-managed riverine reserves along Salween tributaries in Thailand. While there have been discussions[2] about how the coup may spur on controversial projects including Hatgyi Dam amid escalating conflict in the Salween River Basin, it is also affecting the capacity of communities and civil society to gather together and envision alternative forms of transboundary water governance. Despite this, these actors are persisting with efforts to protect the Salween. On March 14th 2023, residents and activists again gathered along the Salween and its tributaries to oppose the Yuam diversion and other mega-projects proposed in the Basin..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Tea Circle (Myanmar)
2023-04-03
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Two European engineering corporations have been paid millions consulting for the Myanmar military junta on harmful hydropower projects, Justice For Myanmar has revealed through an analysis of leaked tax filings, some of which were provided by Distributed Denial of Secrets. The Swiss arm of the Swedish publicly listed company AFRY AB earned US$4.68 million in service fees for consulting work on the Upper Yeywa and Middle Paunglaung Hydropower Projects in Myanmar from February 2021 to September 2022. The Myanmar branch of the Austrian-based ILF Group earned US$1.1 million in consulting fees from the junta from February 2021 to April 2022. ILF Group’s local branch is working on another dam scheme in Myanmar, the Tha Htay Hydropower Project. Both companies are paid by a department of Myanmar’s electricity ministry which is illegally controlled by the military junta. They are advising the junta under tenders awarded in 2020 by the democratically-elected government, preceding the military’s brutal coup attempt. AFRY did not respond to specific questions from Justice For Myanmar regarding the current status of their operations in Myanmar, but confirmed they have projects in the country. ILF Group responded, “our activities were discontinued some time ago, and most recently focused on dam stabilization and slope stabilization for spillway purposes.” ILF Group did not disclose the date their activities were discontinued. Both companies remain registered on Myanmar’s corporate registry. The illegitimate military junta is building dams while attempting to crush freedom of expression, assembly, and association. Since the military’s coup attempt, the junta has created a state of terror, committing deliberate killings, arbitrary arrests, indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, rape and torture. The junta has killed more than 3,100 people, and arbitrarily arrested over 20,000. The Upper Yeywa dam is a 280MW hydropower project on the Namtu River, which is also known as the Myitnge River. It was conceived under the former military dictatorship in Myanmar in 2008, and has been opposed by local communities because of its devastating social and environmental impacts, lack of transparency, threat to ancestral lands and fuelling of conflict. In 2020, the Shan Human Rights Foundation documented grave human rights violations by the Myanmar military near the Upper Yeywa project, including an extrajudicial killing and torture. The group called on foreign companies to withdraw from the dam project or risk complicity in the Myanmar military’s atrocities. In December 2022 a local community network, the Namtu River Protectors, warned that more than 40,000 people living in villages near the dam could be impacted by flooding. Following the military coup attempt, communities have courageously continued to protest the Upper Yeywa Dam, despite grave risks, and a group of workers from the dam project joined the Civil Disobedience Movement against the junta. On the 2022 International Day of Action for Rivers, communities throughout Shan State protested against the junta’s dam projects, including Upper Yeywa. The Tha Htay Chaung dam is a 110MW hydropower project in Thandwe Township, Rakhine State. In 2013, a coalition of Rakhine civil society and political parties demanded a halt to the dam, along with other infrastructure developments in the state, until Myanmar has a federal democracy which would ensure ethnic people have control over the management of their resources. The Middle Paunglaung dam is a 152MW hydropower project on the Paunglaung River, near Naypyidaw. The dam threatens villagers with forced displacement, according to researchers. Justice For Myanmar calls on AFRY and all other companies to responsibly suspend any remaining work on hydropower projects in Myanmar until there is federal democracy. In the meantime, Justice For Myanmar calls for AFRY, ILF and all other involved companies to disclose their human rights due diligence and justify their reasoning and decision-making to advise on hydropower projects in Myanmar, and to remediate damage already incurred in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is deplorable that AFRY and ILF Group have been collaborating with the Myanmar military junta, supporting socially and environmentally destructive dams while their business partner wages a campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar. “AFRY and ILF Group have disregarded the voices of local communities and their international human rights responsibilities by carrying out business as usual with war criminals. “These dams displace communities, destroy livelihoods and harm Myanmar’s rivers, while emboldening an illegal military junta attempting to use infrastructure to gain control of territory. “We call on AFRY to stop any remaining work for the military junta and for AFRY and ILF to remediate damage already incurred in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. “We urge AFRY’s shareholders to take concrete action urgently to ensure the company fulfills its human rights responsibilities, or to divest.”..."
Source/publisher: Justice For Myanmar
2023-03-14
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf
Size: 175.77 KB 116.84 KB
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Description: "Today, on the International Day of Action for Rivers and Against Dams, we celebrate the healthy rivers that play a vital role in our lives, and call on governments, social organizations, and people around the world to stand united in protecting our rivers. Rivers provide water for agriculture, drinking, and food production and they provide essential ecosystem services for humanity. They are also important for the protection of biodiversity and survival of countless trees, flora, and fauna species. However, living rivers are facing threats due to the building of dams and extraction of water and natural resources. In particular, large-scale hydropower projects built on rivers in Myanmar are having negative effects on the environment and people in river basins. Large-scale development projects in Myanmar are ignoring the rights of Indigenous and local peoples; their participation rights and rights to their lands. Their rights are not recognised by the centralized system of governance in Myanmar. During the two years since the military coup, environmental damage has increased in Myanmar’s ethnic areas, while civic spaces and mechanisms for taking urgent action have broken down. After the coup, the State Administration Council (SAC) leader announced the resumption of the Hatgyi dam project on the Salween river in Karen state. Military conflicts have occurred at the proposed Hatgyi Dam site since 2014. Gold mining in rivers, and river sand extraction activities have poisoned the waters and impacted local communities and the environment along the river. Along with militarized development, local people are also losing their livelihoods, homes, and lives due to the military’s air and ground attacks and many are hiding in forests. Humanitarian aid is urgently needed. We, Karen Rivers Watch, Karen indigenous people, and Karen civil society partner organizations call upon international governments, UN agencies, investors, and individuals to preserve our healthy rivers and their ecosystems, and halt all large-scale hydropower projects on Myanmar’s rivers, which have significant social and environmental impacts. This is especially important at a time when climate change already contributes greatly to environmental degradation. Today, on the International Day of Action for Rivers and Against Dams, we celebrate the beauty and power of living rivers and renew our commitments to protect them for all people and the planet. We make the following demands: Karen Nation Union must: Oppose all large-scale development and resource extraction projects that confiscate lands, destroy forests and threaten local livelihoods. Implement their existing environmental policies and protect rivers, forests resources, endangered species and valuable resources. Take action to prevent large business interests profiteering from Kawthoolei’s natural resources. Resist the military dictatorship, which is perpetuating the centralized system which exploits the resources of ethnic groups, and instead encourage and support local management systems. National Unity Consultative Council must: Begin implementing policies to develop a federal resource management system that respects the rights of indigenous peoples and ethnic nationalities. Blacklist companies and entrepreneurs who invest in or implement natural resources extraction projects which financially support the military. Cooperate with civil society organizations to advocate to the international community. International organizations, donors, and UN agencies must: Terminate all loan programs to companies attempting to build Mega-dam projects that will damage people’s livelihoods and the environment. Provide cross-border humanitarian aid to those affected by the ongoing conflicts in Burma through ethnics existing infrastructures..."
Source/publisher: Karen Environmental and Social Action Network
2023-03-14
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf pdf
Size: 175.49 KB 149.95 KB 139.91 KB 100.05 KB
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Topic: China, large hydropower dams, limited statehood, Myanmar, Thailand, water governance
Topic: China, large hydropower dams, limited statehood, Myanmar, Thailand, water governance
Description: "Introduction: This paper examines how fragmented configura- tions of hybrid governance have emerged in the Salween River basin, and how these are (re) shaping local and transboundary water gover- nance. With headwaters in the Tibetan plateau, the Salween River1 mainstream flows down through China’s Yunnan Province to Shan, Karenni, Karen and Mon States in Myanmar, also in part bordering Thailand, and empties into the Andaman Sea. There are at least 16 major ethnic groups and over 10 million people living within the basin, and access to river-related resources are important for many of them for a range of rural livelihoods (Johnston et al., 2017). Viewing the Salween River as a transboundary commons, we put power relations at the centre of our analysis (Suhardiman et al., 2017a; Miller et al., 2019). This is salient given that in contrast to the adjacent Mekong River, where intergovernmental transboundary cooperation is guided, albeit imperfectly, by the Mekong River Commission (e.g. Kittikhoun and Staubli, 2018), in the case of the Salween River there is not a tri- lateral agreement between the three states. Fur- thermore, throughout the basin there are significant power asymmetries between actors, especially in Myanmar given that political authority is contested over at times overlapping territorial spaces (Götz and Middleton, 2020; Suhardiman et al., 2020). Overall, we argue that analysing institutional and actor network fragmentation across the basin with a focus on power relations – beyond property relations – is fundamental to understanding the sustenance and/or enclosure of the river as a transboundary commons. Based on this insight, and drawing on the analytical lenses of hybrid governance (Miller et al., 2019) and critical insti- tutionalism (Cleaver and de Koning, 2015), we suggest that hybrid networks can be strategically engaged – selectively linking state and non-state actors, especially community-based organisations and civil society – to connect parallel decision- making landscapes across scales, both spatially and temporally, with the goal of inclusively institutionalising the transboundary commons foregrounding social and ecological justice. In this paper we view the transboundary environ- mental commons beyond the conventional notion that focuses on ‘shared resources and environmental impacts that transcend national borders’ and that underpins the logic of the insti- tutionalization of transboundary environmental governance between states that may also involve other actors in collective action responses (Hirsch, 2020: 1). Aligned with Hirsch’s (2020: 2) critique and the need ‘to go beyond the country oriented scalar reference of conventional approaches to transboundary environmental governance ...,’ we emphasise the importance of unpacking the nested institutional arrangements, both formal and informal, the state and non-state actors involved and the power relations between them, to then move beyond a regional/inter- country analytical lens and urge the need for a transboundary environmental commons rooted in grassroots realities of people living along the river and the local commons..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Asia Pacific Viewpoint
2020-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 211.67 KB
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Topic: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Logistics and Telecommunications, Protection and Human Rights, Shelter and Non-Food Items, Water Sanitation Hygiene
Topic: Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Logistics and Telecommunications, Protection and Human Rights, Shelter and Non-Food Items, Water Sanitation Hygiene
Description: "This regular humanitarian update, covering the period from 20 January to 24 February, is produced by OCHA Myanmar in collaboration with the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group and UNHCR. The next update will be issued towards the end of March 2021.....HIGHLIGHTS: The UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar reaffirms the commitment of the UN and its partners to stay and deliver humanitarian assistance and protection services and calls for donor support for the 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan, which seeks US$276.5 million to respond to the needs of 945,000 people. Humanitarian response efforts are affected by operational challenges resulting from the recent developments, such as cash shortages and concerns for staff safety and security. In northern Shan, around 2,300 people were newly displaced in Kyaukme, Namtu and Hsipaw townships in February due to armed clashes between the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) or between EAOs. Another 1,000 people remain displaced in Kyaukme in northern Shan since January. In Lashio and Laukkaing townships in northern Shan, nine people were reportedly killed and eight others, including an unidentified number of children, injured due to armed clashes on 5 February. Over 5,300 people remain displaced in Kayin State and Bago Region since late December; sporadic clashes continued to be reported between the MAF and the Karen National Union (KNU) throughout February..."
Source/publisher: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (New York) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2021-02-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 200.29 KB
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Sub-title: The ninth instalment in our travel series about wild swimming spots takes us to Myanmar’s northernmost state, a land of ethnic diversity, impenetrable jungle and… tubing.
Description: "Kachin State is famous for Myitsone and manau festivals, but also contains vast expanses of impenetrable jungle wilderness, a large variety of ethnic groups and even the country’s very own section of the Himalayas. So, I hear you ask? Okay – it also possesses a range of fairly special water-centric excursions, so next time you make it that far north do yourself a favour and add at least a couple of them to your itinerary. INDAWGYI LAKE You don’t have to be a devout wild swimmer to enjoy Myanmar’s largest natural lake – it’s an essential Myanmar travel destination in its own right. You can rent kayaks and bamboo bicycles, visit hot springs, and sign up for a range of different boating tours. While all of that comes heartily recommended, nothing beats heading for the middle of the lake at sunset, and diving headfirst into those deep, deep waters. MYITKYINA Myitsone About 90 minutes north of Mandalay, two rivers that wind down from the Himalayas – the Mali Kha and the N’Mai Kha – converge to form one giant super river, the Ayeyarwady. The current is pretty brutal away from the shallows so I can’t really recommend swimming here. What you can do though is rent a boat (K20,000) for a 15-minute spin around the river(s). That, and renting out a traditional Kachin outfit, and posing like a total dork in front of the confluence..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
2020-02-23
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Conflict and dams on the Nam Teng in Shan State
Description: "... Table Contents: Summary, Historical and cultural significance of the Nam Teng River: flowing through contested lands, Birthplace of Shan “Romeo and Juliet”, An artery of Shan resistance, 1996-1998: forced depopulation along the Nam Teng, Burma Army build-up in central Shan State, Background of Kengtawng, Militarization in Kengtawng, The Kengtawng hydropower project, Impacts of the Kengtawng project, Downsized waterfalls, Decreased fish stocks, The Upper Kengtawng dam, Feared impacts, Parched agriculture, Health risks due to changed water quality, Further decrease in fish stocks, Disappearance of waterfalls, Unpredictable water releases, Dam breakage, Centralized energy planning and foreign investment fueling conflict ..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF)
2018.12.03
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 29.23 MB
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Sub-title: Conflict and dams on the Nam Teng in Shan State
Description: "... Table Contents: Summary, Historical and cultural significance of the Nam Teng River: flowing through contested lands, Birthplace of Shan “Romeo and Juliet”, An artery of Shan resistance, 1996-1998: forced depopulation along the Nam Teng, Burma Army build-up in central Shan State, Background of Kengtawng, Militarization in Kengtawng, The Kengtawng hydropower project, Impacts of the Kengtawng project, Downsized waterfalls, Decreased fish stocks, The Upper Kengtawng dam, Feared impacts, Parched agriculture, Health risks due to changed water quality, Further decrease in fish stocks, Disappearance of waterfalls, Unpredictable water releases, Dam breakage, Centralized energy planning and foreign investment fueling conflict ..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 27.19 MB
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Sub-title: Myanmar’s rice growers are increasingly concerned about the amount of water in the country available for the irrigation of their crops, industry insiders say.
Description: "U Myo Tint Tun, assistant secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation recently said: “A reduction in water available for crop irrigation is likely. Right now, the rainfall the country receives has been lower than in previous rainy seasons. Water flowing into the county’s dams has been fluctuating over the recent years and the amount cannot be estimated accurately. What is definitely known is that the country has to be more effective in saving water.” Rice is one of Myanmar’s major exports, and if shortages of irrigation water occur it would negatively impact a revenue source for the country. U Myo Tint Tun, says building more dams will not help the situation as there are already enough and that the problem is solely due to the climate. Being an agricultural country, irrigation water is a critical issue for Myanmar, he added. “Being an agricultural country, it is very important to have sufficient irrigation water. As rice is a major crop, Myanmar needs more water. The crop grows with rain water during the rainy season but in dry areas, irrigation water has to be supplied. If that insufficiency of irrigated water persists, it will be a great challenge for the agriculture sector,” said U Myo Tint Tun. To address the situation, the Agricultural Development Strategy was drafted about two years ago under the present government and it features solutions to uncommon weather conditions, he said. Myanmar’s 15 states and regions have different weather patterns, geographical features and water resources so approaches to deal with these are not the same, said U Myo Tint Tun..."
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Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2020-01-13
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "ဖဲကညီကီၢ်စဲၣ်ႇ ဖၣ်အၣ်ကီၢ်ဆၣ် ဘါကၣ်ႇ အီၣ်ကီၣ်ယ့ႇ ယသ့ၣ်ပၠၤႇ ပါကိသ၀ီကရူၢ်အပူၤသ၀ီသ့ၣ်တဖၣ် ခီဖျိလၢထံဟဲထီၣ်သူထီၣ်အဃိ လီၢ်က၀ီၤသ၀ီဖိလၢအသဂၢၢ်ဘၣ်ဒီးထံတၢ်ကီတၢ်ခဲတဖၣ်အဂီၢ် ကညီဒွဲလၤကူၣ်သ့ဖိစၢဖှိၣ်ကရၢ -KCO တီခိၣ်ရိၣ်မဲ၀ဲဒီး ဖဲလါနိၣ်၀့ဘၢၣ် ၈ သီအနံၤန့ၣ် လဲၤမၤဘူၣ်လီၤ၀ဲထံန့ၣ်လီၤႉ ဖဲအပူၤကွံာ်လါအီးကထိဘၢၣ်လါထီၣ်သီန့ၣ် တၢ်လီၢ်ဟီၣ်က၀ီၤဖဲန့ၣ် ဒူဖိသ၀ီဖိသူ၀ဲဒၣ် ထံပူၤႇထံကမျၢတဖၣ် အပူၤန့ၣ် ထံသ့ၣ်တဖၣ်ဟဲထီၣ်သူထီၣ်၀ဲဒီး ညၣ်သ့ၣ်တဖၣ်စ့ၢ်ကီးသံ၀ဲဒၣ် တၢ်ကဲထီၣ်သးအဃိ လၢကသူက့ၤ ၀ဲထံအဂီၢ် ကဲထီၣ်၀ဲတၢ်ကီတၢ်ခဲန့ၣ် သ့ၣ်ညါဘၣ်လီၤႉ လၢတၢ်ဟဲမၤဘူၣ်လီၤ၀ဲထံအံၤ ၦၤတီခိၣ်ရိၣ်မဲတၢ်ဖိ နါလါစ့ဖီစံး၀ဲလၢ“ဒ့မုၣ်ဖိတဂၤဟဲတဲဘၣ်ယၤႇ ယနၢ်ဟူလၢနၣ်ကိသ၀ီတပၤန့ၣ် ထံဟးဂီၤ၀ဲဒၣ်အဃိ လိၣ်ဘၣ်၀ဲတၢ်မၤစၢၤန့ၣ်လီၤႉ လၢတၢ်န့ၣ်အဃိ ပ၀ဲသ့ၣ်တဖၣ်ပအဲၣ်ဒိးမၤဘူၣ်၀ဲအဃိ တနံၤအံၤပဟဲဒီးမၤဘူၣ်၀ဲလီၤ”အဂ့ၢ် စံးဘၣ် ခ့ၣ်အဲးစံၣ်– ကညီတၢ်ကစီၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤ..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Karen News
2019-11-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "A ceremony to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Myanmar and Italy to cooperate in the water management in the farming sector and development of mechanized farming, was held in Nay Pyi Taw on August 2, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation. Under the MoU, Italy will provide technical assistance for the establishment of irrigation technical center at the Shwehlanbo river water pumping and underground water training school in Sintkai Township in Mandalay Region for the development of dam irrigation technology and the mechanized farming technology center at No.61 mechanized farming camp in Wetlet Township in Sagaing Region for development of mechanized farming system, for three years. The MoU was signed by Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Hla Kyaw and Italian Ambassador to Myanmar Mrs. Alessandra Schiavo. In addition, the ministry is discussing a plan to promote technical cooperation for development of farming sector between Myanmar and India. Both sides discussed the utilization of technologies and opening of animal health and management courses according to the MoU between Myanmar and India, for development Rakhine State..."
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
2019-08-04
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "When the bullock carts lugging passengers and produce pulled into Yangon, coated in the umber dust of the countryside, the people on board, if not the oxen, used to be able to count on refreshment. On many a street corner, often under a shade tree, stood what looked like a dollhouse on stilts. Inside was a rotund clay pot covered by a triangle of woven leaves. The pot held drinking water. Cool without refrigeration, sweet with the taste of earth, nothing slaked the insistent thirst of the tropics better, according to some residents of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. “I only drink water from a clay pot,” said Ma Aye Aye Thein, as she sat on a plastic stool and occasionally fanned herself. “I feel hot when I drink from plastic.” The gifted water was also a welcome reminder of the hospitality of strangers in a period when trust was in short supply. During the height of the military dictatorship that ruled Myanmar for nearly 50 years, people said the walls had eyes and ears. In those times, it didn’t take much for Special Branch, the secret police, to turn a neighbor into an informer..."
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Source/publisher: "The New York Times" (USA)
2019-10-10
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar is a unique country where the majority of the people live in rural areas, away from grid electricity and reliable water supplies. The penetration of grid electricity in rural areas is minimal and even then it is often erratic. This paper focuses on the challenges of transitioning from an electricitypoor country to a renewable energy based-economy augmented with photovoltaics (PV). Based on optimization modelling and assessments of Myanmar’s current energy barriers, we examine the feasibility of PV-powered desalination systems for the Ayeyarwady region and Tanintharyi region. An analysis of the technical and economic feasibility of a stand-alone solar-powered desalination system indicates that the needed price of water for economic sustainability should be approximately US$0.0224/litre. From our economic modelling, we found that the major capital cost is the installation of PV and maintenance. The major operating cost is maintenance of batteries. Minor operating costs are membrane replacement and PV maintenance. The country’s limited capital inhibits the creation of these systems, and foreign investment or incentives from international financial institutions will be needed to secure off-grid, clean energy solutions for Myanmar..."
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Source/publisher: "ProQuest" (USA)
2016-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "People living in Myanmar's Dry Zone are facing the impact of climate change on their lives. The project, Addressing Climate Change Risks on Water Resources and Food Security in the Dry Zone of Myanmar aims to reduce vulnerability and increase adaptive capacity of the dry zone communities through improved water management, crop and livestock adaptation programme in five of the most vulnerable townships of Myanmar’s Dry Zone. The Adaptation Fund project is being implemented by UNDP in collaboration with the Government of the Union of Myanmar. Category..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UNDP Myanmar
2017-03-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Across Myanmar’s central, rural dry zone, communities have markedly improved their lives with the support of Pact and its partners, in areas including health, food security, livelihoods, access to credit and renewable energy, and water, sanitation and hygiene. Pact’s unique, integrated model – one focused on making holistic, systemic change and building strong local institutions and decision-making – means villages lead their own development. Pact and its partners implemented the Shae Thot project in Myanmar from 2011 to 2018. The project was supported by USAID and paid for by the American people..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Pactworld
2018-06-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Their village of Sin Ka in Chauk Township, in the Magway Region, has only one well that serves 700 people. It is a 20 minute walk away and costs US$0.60 to fill a 200 litre barrel. This is a serious burden on Daung Yi and her husband, who look after a family of 12, including children and grandparents. Many landless people in Myanmar’s Dry Zone work as seasonal farm labourers, migrating to urban areas during non-planting time to find temporary employment. Chronic poverty is directly correlated with the effects of drought and climate change..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
2016-09-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: agricultural practices, capacity building, crop management, food security, water resource management
Topic: agricultural practices, capacity building, crop management, food security, water resource management
Description: "The Rakhine Winter Crops Project (RWCP) is an ambitious programme to facilitate crop diversification, increased production and improved agricultural water management for the dry season in order to increase farmer incomes, employment and food security. RWCP operates in Thandwe, Taungup and Gwa Townships of Rakhine State, Myanmar. Key aspects of the 5-year NZ$11.5m programme include, among others: The provision of Good Agriculture Practice training and applied research for farmers to diversify into more productive and profitable winter crops; The implementation of a home garden program, particularly for landless farmers; Strengthening the institutional capacity of government extension workers and Community Development Groups. Sandwiched between the Bay of Bengal and the Rakhine Yoma mountain range, Rakhine State is one of Myanmar’s least developed areas. Communities there confront a number of serious challenges, including malnutrition, poverty, conflict, weak infrastructure and susceptibility to extreme weather events. The majority of Rakhine’s population are reliant on subsistence agriculture. More than half of the rural population are landless and dependent on casual labour for employment and income..."
Source/publisher: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) via Adam Smith International
2018-09-25
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Within the framework of the capacity building program for Myanmar urban services providers implemented by GRET (ROSAMUR project), a comprehensive assessment study on sanitation in Magway city was conducted with the key following objectives: To gather and analyze data and information on sanitation conditions, including all different aspects: regulatory, institutional, financial, capacity, technical, etc. To draw the faecal waste flow in Magway city to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current system To suggest priorities improvement for each component of the sanitation service chain according to the conclusion of the assessment The following report is in Myanmar language and presents the conclusions of this study.....ဤအစီရင်ခံစာတွင်၂၀၁၇ခုနှစ်၊စက်တင်ဘာလမှ၂၀၁၈ခုနှစ်၊ဇန်နဝါရီလအထိ လေ့လာတွေ့ရှိရသော ရေဆိုးစွန့်ပစ်စနစ်နှင့်ပတ်သက်သည့်လေ့လာချက်များနှင့်အနှစ်ချုပ်တွေ့ရှိချက်များကိုတင်ပြထားပါသ ည်။ ဤလေ့လာမှုသည်GRETမှအကောင်အထည်ဖော်ပြီး ပြင်သစ်အလှူရှင်များမှ ရန်ပုံငွေ မတည် ထားသော Rosamurပရောဂျက်၏ တစ်စိတ်တစ်ပိုင်းဖြစ်ကာမကွေးမြို့အတွက် ရေပေးဝေမှုစနစ် ရေဆိုးစွန့်ပစ်မှုနှင့် အမှိုက်သရိုက်အညစ်အကြေးများစီမံခန့်ခွဲမှုလုပ်ငန်းများ ဖံ့ွ ဖြိုးတိုးတက်စေရန် ရည်ရွယ်ချက်အတွက်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ကနဦးလေ့လာတွေ့ရှိချက်များနှင့်ကွင်းဆင်းလေ့လာမှု့များအရ မကွေးမြို့၏ရေဆိုးစွန့်ပစ်မှုအခြေအနေနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍အားကိုးအားထားပြုရမည့်အချက်အလက်များ လုံးဝမရှိသည့်အပြင်ရေဆိုးစွန့်ပစ်စနစ်နှင့်ပတ်သက်ပြီးမြို့၏အခြေအနေနှင့်ပြည်သူလူထု၏လက်တွေ့ ကျင့်သုံးမှုအပိုင်းမှာလည်း စိတ်ကျေနပ်မှုမရှိသည်ကို တွေ့ရှိရပါသည်။ ထိုအခြေအနေကိုကောင်းမွန်လာစေရန်အလို့ငှာမြို့၏လက်ရှိအခြေအနေကိုနားလည်ပြီး တိကျ မှန်ကန်သော သတင်းအချက်အလက်များစုဆောင်းရန်လိုအပ်ပါသည်။ ထိုသို့သောအကြောင်းအရာများကြောင့်GRETမှမကွေးမြို့တွင်ရေဆိုးစွန့်ပစ်စနစ်နှင့်ပတ်သက်သော ရှင်းလင်းသည့် လေ့လာအကဲဖြတ်မှုများကို အောက်ပါရည်ရွယ်ချက်များဖြင့် ပြုလုပ်ပါသည်။ 1) ရေဆိုးစနွ့်ပစ်မှုအခြေအနေများနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍သတင်းအချက်အလက်များကိုစည်းမျဉ်းစည်းကမ်း ဆိုင်ရာ၊ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံဆိုင်ရာ၊ ငွေကြေးဆိုင်ရာ၊စွမ်းဆောင်ချက်ဆိုင်ရာ၊နည်းစနစ်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာစသည်တို့ကိုရှုထောင့်အမျိုးမျိုးမှပါ ဝင်အောင်စုဆောင်းရန်။ 2) မကွေးမြို့၏မိလ္လာအညစ်အကြေးစီးဆင်းမှုကို ရေးဆွဲပြီး လက်ရှိမိလ္လာရေစီးလမ်းကြောင်း စနစ်၏ အားသာ ချက်နှင့် အားနည်းချက်တို့ကို လေ့လာရန်။ 3) လေ့လာတွေ့ရှိချက်များအပေါ်မူတည်၍ရေဆိုးစွန့်ပစ်စနစ်လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်၏ ဦးစားပေး လုပ်ငန်း တစ်ခုချင်းစီ ဖံ့ွ ဖြိုးတိုးတက်မှုအတကွ ် အကြံပြုရန်။..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Water Portal
2019-07-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The level of water in the Ayeyawady River, which crossed the danger mark on 21 July in Mandalay, is expected to recede over the next few days, according to the upper Myanmar weather bureau. "The river stopped rising on Sunday. We forecast the water level will recede about 2 centimetres on 22 July. It will fall below the danger mark after 24 July," said U Kyaw Lwin Oo, the Director of the Upper Myanmar Meteorological and Hydrological Department. On Saturday, the water reached 1,285 cm, 25 cm above the danger mark, but the level remained unchanged the rest of the day. The water level in the river had reached a record of 1,382 cm in 2004. "The embankment in Mandalay is safe until the river water reaches 50 cm above the danger mark. But, areas where the embankment is lower, especially in Amarapura Township, should be on alert for floods," U Kyaw Lwin Oo added. The current water level does not pose a threat to residents as the embankment is higher than in 2004, he said. The Mandalay City Development Committee has collected over 30,000 sandbags as part of preparedness for possible flooding..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Water Portal
2019-07-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Access to clean water and sanitation is a basic human right, it is essential to ensure that people have safe, secure affordable water to obtain a decent life for all. Water governance - transparent, clearly informed and inclusive decision-making - should bring fair and equitable development planning for the whole of society regardless of social status, location, gender, sexual orientation, disability or ethnicity. Having those aims in mind, I would like to address the essential role that gender plays in Myanmar society in accordance to highlight World Water Day 2019 theme, "Leaving no one behind" - which aims to focus on marginalized groups. The 'Impact Evaluation in practice' handbook, published by the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank, evaluated 122 projects, which evidently found that water projects that included women were six to seven times more effective than those that did not. In addition, recognising Myanmar rural society, it is essential to "leaving no country behind" to enable redistribution of the global wealth to be achieving Sustainable Development Goal, SDG 1 – No Poverty. The theme 'inclusiveness of society in the water sector' revived my childhood memory of growing up in my beloved village, located on a small island at the southern part of Myanmar- carrying the glazed earthenware pot which was filled with the drinking water for my household, over my head from the village monastery's well. It is assumed as a cleaner water source as it was located on higher land than central village houses. I remember going to the communal drinking wells with my grandmother, catching up with the fellow women while waiting for the turns to manually pump the water during the summer months of March, April and May - the period most regions of Myanmar faced the lack of water. In the drier months, we would have to go to the nearby villages with the cow carts, to carry the water. However, those have changed when my neighbours and my parents, former teachers, decided to have a deep-well near the house for a small neighbourhood. Having easier access to water allowed me to have extra time for studying. Besides, the neighbourhoods could collect small fees for maintaining the well's operation, and even building an additional well for a village school within a few years. From spending two times daily (one hour every time) carrying water to readily available water next door has proved the immerse advantage..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Myanmar Water Portal
2019-07-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Improving the health of families in the Delta by providing access to safe water and sanitation facilities, while raising awareness of hygiene and health related issues was a project funded by the Government of Japan for recovery and reconstruction of 2365 latrines, 197 rainwater collection tanks, 235 ponds, 28 new ponds and 212 new wells, 13,911 ceramic jars, 129 bridges and jetties, 541 emergency water supply systems and many more for 190,000 people in 263 villages of the Cyclone Nargis affected community in the Delta area of Myanmar. More information can be found at: Community Water Supply and Sanitation Recovery Programme (CWSSRP)..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UN-Habitat Myanmar
2015-03-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: A poor community cites decades of land dispossession and environmental degradation in their opposition to a Thai-operated tin mine in rural Dawei Township.
Description: "ON THE BANKS of a narrow stream in rural Tanintharyi Region, a faded blue sign points the way to Myaung Phyo village. Walking into the village, Frontier could see dying coconut trees lining the main street – a symptom, locals said, of groundwater contamination. Myaung Phyo is located 43 kilometres from Dawei, the capital of Tanintharyi Region, in Myitta sub-township. Close by is the Heinda tin mine, one of Myanmar’s oldest. Local residents say that Myaung Phyo has borne the brunt of the extensive environmental damage caused by the mine. The dispute between the community and the mine operators goes back several decades. In 1983, about 500 village residents were relocated to make way for the mine. The only compensation they received were plots of land smaller than those they were forced to vacate, according to a report by the Dawei Pro Bono Lawyers Network. Ma Phyu Phyu Khaing was one of those displaced. “The situation made us very sad. The village was very peaceful and it had big trees that gave us shade. Neighbouring villages really liked it, because it was very cool. But one side of the village is now dead,” she said. In 2008, heavy rainfall caused flooding that saw the mine’s sediment pools overflow and mining waste wash into the village, contaminating the water supply and destroying plantations and homes, residents say. Further flooding occurred in 2012, damaging about 20 acres of plantations as well as 27 homes. Myaung Phyo resident Daw Khin San said that, because of the mine, many such as herself do not have access to clean water in the village. “All homes have wells, but we can’t use them anymore because of contamination. We have to collect water from a well that is more than two furlongs [half a kilometre] from home. We use this water for drinking, washing and other domestic uses every day,” she said. The Heinda mine was established in the 1920s during British colonial rule, as part of a cluster of tin mines close to Dawei, known then as Tavoy. However, much of the tin and tungsten mining infrastructure was destroyed during World War Two. The industry was nationalised under the military-backed, socialist regime of General Ne Win, which took over in 1962. After decades of low output under the Ministry of Mines, in 1999 Thai company Myanmar Pongpipat was granted permission to explore the mine, in partnership with the state-owned No.2 Mining Enterprise, the former holding 65 percent and the latter 35 pc of the venture. The mine covers 247 acres within an 2,110-acre concession and includes three open-pit mines that produce between 400 and 500 tonnes of tin and tungsten each year, much of which is then exported for processing in China, Thailand and Malaysia, typically earning more than US$4 million per year. Water tests commissioned in 2013 and 2014 by the Dawei Pro Bono Lawyers Network found that lead and arsenic toxicity levels were significantly beyond the safe upper limits recommended by the World Health Organization for drinking water. The network’s report cited significant health risks, especially for children. Another Myaung Pyo resident, Daw Aye, said that the company had promised government officials that they would address the water contamination, but never took any action. The Tanintharyi Region government has suspended the company’s mining activities three times since June 2016, for periods ranging from three weeks to several months, because of environmental concerns. The most recent suspension was in February 2018, but work was allowed to resume in October. Nine residents filed a lawsuit in 2014 at the Dawei District Court against the company for damages caused by the loss of livelihood, but this and subsequent appeals at the Tanintharyi Region High Court and the Union Supreme Court were all rejected. Villagers say that the company had offered them compensation but the sums were too small for them to accept. Some residents whose lands were contaminated by the mine’s runoff were provided with new land, the villagers said. But not everyone accepted it, with some deciding to move to Thailand to seek work instead. Residents also submitted a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand in February 2017. The NHRCT said that same month that they would submit a complaint to the Thai government on the villagers’ behalf, but the villagers were not aware of anything having been done in response. Representatives for Myanmar Pongpipat could not be reached for comment. U Thein Soe, deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, told Frontier that the ministry’s Environmental Conservation Department and the No.2 Mining Enterprise were supervising the mine to ensure Myanmar Pongpipat was following an environmental management plan the company had commissioned, even though his department had yet to formally approve the plan. He added that data on sediment from the mine was reported to Nay Pyi Taw once a week. Asked about the flooding risks, Thein Soe said it was difficult to “prevent a natural disaster” but added that the situation had “improved” since the government began monitoring mine activities, with the sediment pond now less prone to overflowing. U Ye Aung, a member of a community group formed to monitor the mine at the request of the regional government, told Frontier, “They want to have their creek, good water and trees back, and regain their lost lifestyle. Now, they feel like they, the villagers, don’t matter to the government.” Ye Aung said the monitoring group had submitted three letters to the regional government, calling on it to punish the company for breaching its environmental commitments. Tanintharyi Region Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation U Myint Maung said the current contract for the mine expires in June. He said the regional government had urged the Union government to open a tender for the new contract and consult independent experts over the terms to set, but that the Union government had asked them to extend the contract for Myanmar Pongpipat for another five years. Daw Aye said she wanted the company to leave. “I’m always sad when I see the [dying] trees. We don’t want the company to be given an extension. If they do, things will only get worse,” she said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Frontier Myanmar
2019-03-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Maung Maung, 46, in his home garden where he grows leafy vegetables using hydroponics in Shwe Bon Thar village, Myingyan Township, part of Myanmar's Dry Zone on Feb 22, 2017. TRF/Thin Lei Win PAKOKKU, Myanmar, March 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Myo Myint fondly remembers when his one-acre farm regularly produced 100 baskets of rice. But as rainfall became erratic in this arid region, he started growing betel leaves, a less thirsty cash crop. This summer, the 50-year-old is considering leaving fallow his land in Myanmar's central "Dry Zone" because when the stream behind his house dries up in March, the cost of irrigation outstrips the income from any crop. A 2016 drought followed by heavy rains already battered his farm. "Water is becoming more scarce every year. I want to keep growing the crops but there's not much I can do without water," he said, sitting beneath the ground floor of his stilt house. His village of Myay Ni Twin, in Pakokku township, is around two hours' drive from Bagan, Myanmar's top tourist destination known for its ancient Buddhist temples. "When I was growing up, the stream didn't go dry. Now there's less rain, and it's very hard to plant things," he said. Myanmar recently emerged from decades of military dictatorship only to face a bigger existential threat. The Southeast Asian nation of 50 million people is the world's second most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index from research group Germanwatch. Studies have shown the onset of the monsoon is becoming more variable, increasing the risk of drought. The Dry Zone, an area comprising 58 townships in Mandalay, Magwe and Sagaing, is home to around 10 million people, who mostly rely on rain-fed agriculture. It suffers from year-round water shortages. A recent assessment by the Myanmar Climate Change Alliance (MCCA), an initiative funded by the European Union and United Nations, predicted a temperature increase of up to 3 degrees Celsius and a shorter monsoon in Pakokku by 2050. Farmers like Myo Myint - already struggling to make ends meet - will bear the brunt of those changes. His village has a well, but pumping water costs too much, he said. So he was intrigued by the prototypes of soil moisture sensors in the hands of Tayzar Lin, a product designer with Proximity Designs, a Myanmar-based social enterprise that develops affordable products for farmers. "I've been curious since I saw something similar on Facebook," said the farmer, as Tayzar Lin plunged into the soil a boxy contraption with a dial at the top and an alloy-tipped brass rod at the bottom. The hand on the dial moved to green, showing the soil still held water. Red means dry, and blue means too much water. Myo Myint dreams of watering only when needed, instead of every two days as he now does, to save the precious resource..."
Creator/author: Thin Lei Win, Maung Maung
Source/publisher: UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme)
2017-03-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''French multinational energy company Engie has informed Burma Campaign UK that it is pulling out of the Upper Yeywa dam project in Shan State Burma, after being placed on a ‘Dirty List’ by Burma Campaign UK in December 2018. Engie is a French multinational energy and services company. In the UK it is an energy supplier and works in a range of services, including working for the NHS. Engie subsidiary company Tractabel, has a subsidiary, Lahmeyer, which was working on the controversial Upper Yeywa dam in Shan State, Burma. The dam is opposed by local residents and will result in displacement and environmental damage. The Shan Human Rights Foundation, working with local civil society, has highlighted the negative impacts of dam building in Shan State in a series of reports available at: https://www.shanhumanrights.org/ In a letter from Xavier Hubert, Ethics Compliance and Privacy Director of Engie, dated 21st January 2019, the company stated: “As we informed you in the context of this project, our affiliate, Lahmeyer International, formed a consortium with the company Stucky SA, long before the acquisition of Lahmeyer International by ENGIE. We inform you that the contract with Stucky has been terminated at the very beginning of January 2019 and that as a result neither Lahmeyer International nor any member of ENGIE Group is any more involved in the project.” Burma Campaign UK has now removed Engie from the ‘Dirty List’...''
Source/publisher: Burma Campaign UK via "Progressive Voice"
2019-01-30
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''Communication for Sustainable Livelihoods and Food Security in Myanmar...''
Creator/author: Dr. Naoya Fujimoto, U Htary Naing, U Thaung Win, U Soe Khaing, U Aung Than, U Than Choung, Khin Thuzar Nwe
Source/publisher: ABC International Development
2017-04-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Description: "What do we need to have a healthy and happy life? Do we need clean, safe, and uncontaminated air to breath, food to eat and water to drink for our growth and well-being? These are critical questions that we should often ask ourselves. This (Karen language) environmental booklet was produced with the aim to raise awareness and educate community members such as school children, students, teachers, parents and leaders about the important role water plays in our personal and community health, livelihoods and development. This booklet is divided into three main topics: basic understanding of water resources and their management, waste management, and sanitation and hygiene..."
Source/publisher: KESAN
2018-10-12
Date of entry/update: 2018-10-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 1.36 MB
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Description: Introduction to IWRM in Myanmar: Setting the right strategy before master planning: "The Myanmar IWRM Strategic Study aims to contribute in a participative manner to the development of a national strategy for integrated water resources management (IWRM) in Myanmar1. The fullest possible use has been made of insights into delta management, IWRM and adaptive water management as developed in the Dutch delta programme and elsewhere in the world. The strategic study assists in responding to the national IWRM challenges and opportunities in Myanmar. It provides options and recommendations as building blocks for a Myanmar National Water Master Plan. It does not go into detail as may be expected from a comprehensive master plan. This study is at a strategic level; it presents an overview of the most important challenges and anticipated changes in water resources management, what measures could be taken and the expected impact of these measures as well as their economic and financial aspects. The building blocks, recommendations, proposed strategies and measures may be used by the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar for initial decision making, taking into consideration their priorities. Eventually, the preferred strategy can then be further detailed in a future IWRM Master plan..."
Source/publisher: Royal HaskoningDHV, UNESCO-IHE and ARCADIS
2014-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 5.72 MB 11.61 MB
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Description: 1 Sector Road Map: 1. Sector Performance, Problems, and Opportunities - 1. Urbanization; 2. Core constraints ["The core constraint to Myanmar?s urban development is inadequate infrastructure and poor quality of services..."]; Sector performance indicators ["A key constraint in assessing the sector performance and having a basis for planning and prioritization are the sporadic, unreliable and incomplete data..."]; 4. Sanitation, solid waste and stormwater drainage ["Urban areas do not have functioning city-wide sewerage and drainage networks...]; 5. Health and poverty implications; 6. Climate change implications; 7. Opportunities through development of Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) corridors and towns; 8. Gender issues...2. Government?s Sector Strategy: 8. National and local level plans and strategies; 9. Institutional frameworks and capacities...3. ADB Sector Experience: 10. Past experience and assistance in the sector; 11. Lessons learnt and best practices from the region; 12. Priority assistance ["...geographically, assistance could initially focus on towns that would support or are part of GMS corridors, specifically the Southern Economic Corridor and the East Western Economic Corridor..."]...Problem Tree for Urban Development and Water Sector
Source/publisher: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
2012-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-09-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 61.32 KB
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Source/publisher: UNOPS
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Water resources and status of utilization Myanmar is a country endowed with abundant water resources. The catchment area of Myanmar?s ten principal river basins comprises about 737800 km?. Potential water resources volume is about 1082 km? for surface water and 495 cubic km for groundwater.as well constitute national water resources annually. As an agro-base country of Myanmar, water utilization for agricultural sector stands for 90% while industry and domestic use is only about 10% of the total water use. The total utilization of the nation?s water resources is only about 5 percent of the potential. It is clear that the physical potential for further development of water resources in Myanmar is quite substantial. However with the increase of population and enhanced need for water for economic activities, there is increasing pressure on use of surface water and extraction of groundwater. Control and management of surface water and groundwater is therefore important for sustainable development of the country in future.
Source/publisher: Water Environment Partnership in Asia (WEPA)
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: A fierce heat wave combined with a drought to create serious water shortages in many parts of Burma in May... "Temperatures in Rangoon, Pegu and Irrawaddy divisions and in central Burma and Arakan State reached three-decade record highs of up to 45 degrees Celsius, according to official reports. The excessive heat dried up ponds in many villages, leading to a shortage of water for drinking and sanitation. Many communities in need received emergency water supplies from volunteer workers—and the government..."
Creator/author: Myat Moe Maung
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 18, No. 6
2010-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-08-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Maungdaw, 7 May 2005: "A number of villages in the north of Maungdaw Township have been facing a water shortage since the beginning of May, reports a villager who has been transporting water from Bangladesh to Burma via a small boat on the Naf River. "The water is not for my family, it is for the Nasaka camp which is located at Ngakhura village," he said..."
Source/publisher: Narinjara News
2005-06-07
Date of entry/update: 2005-07-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 10.98 KB
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Description: Geography and population� Climate and water resources: Climate; River basins and water resources; Lakes and dams; Water withdrawal� Irrigation and drainage development� Institutional environment� . Trends in water resources management� . Main sources of information.
Source/publisher: FAO
1999-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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