Water professionals gather in Colombo

The inaugural session of the International Conference on Water Resources Policy in South Asia takes place in Colombo on December 17, at the Taj Samudra Hotel.

The conference is a forum to bring together regional and international water professionals, academicians, policymakers, activists, politicians and others involved and interested in South Asian water resources issues.

As part of the ongoing water resources policy dialogue, the conference aims to enhance the understanding of water resources governance and water management and use in the region by critically assessing the ongoing policy reform processes.

The conference is part of the regional capacity-building project Crossing Boundaries, a joint initiative of SaciWATERs, and Wageningen University, the Netherlands. SaciWATERs, South Asian Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies based in Hyderabad, India, comprises accomplished scholars and activists from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

SaciWATERs produces new knowledge to address the pressing problems in the water sector in South Asia through education, research and advocacy. It is involved in creating a new group of professionals and experts through its Crossing Boundaries Project which aims to contribute to the paradigm shift in water resources management in South Asia.

The project is implemented by means of various partnership-based programmes for capacity building of water professionals through higher education; innovative and social learning focused research (“research with an impact”); knowledge based development and networking.

The Chairperson of the Inaugural Session would be Senior Researcher - Natural Resources and Social Dynamics, Department of Political and Cultural Change, Center for Development Research, Bonn, Germany and Convener, SaciWATERs, India, Dr. Peter P. Mollinga and the welcome speech would be given by President, SaciWATERs Prof. Jayanta Bandhopadhyaya.

The keynote speech shall be delivered by Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, Chairman, Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND) and Vice Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Dr. Amita Baviskar, Associate Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University, India

The inaugural session would also witness the launch of the e-journal South Asian Water Studies (SAWAS) - an open access journal on interdisciplinary water issues in South Asia. A book launch - Droughts and Integrated Water Resource Management in South Asia (Sage Publications under Water in South Asia Series) will also be one of the highlights of the evening.

The conference seeks to investigate and understand the varied dynamics of existing water resources management in South Asia and compare them with those in other regions. The papers revolve around policy issues related to water in South Asia that include important sectors like irrigation, drinking water and sanitation, water conflict issues, gender, groundwater management and IWRM.