Publications

River Basin Management: Negotiations from a Local Perspective

As many researchers (e.g. Boelens & Dávida 1998; Mosse 2003) have observed, class, gender, age, and ethnicity bear on access to water, its use and management. A challenge is to identify the ways in which the rights, interests and needs of marginal groups can be incorporated into water management. This paper seeks to make a step in that direction. It presents some preliminary conclusions drawn from the ongoing work of two civil society organisations (hereafter CSOs) working with marginally poor communities. Broadly speaking, the paper attempts to enhance understanding of local power relations in water management. It delineates some of the local dynamics of two CSOs in their work with local organisations and the challenges they encounter as they seek to promote the integration of marginal groups in wider political discussions about water management. It elucidates factors that hinder participation in decisionmaking processes and offers some suggestions to tackle this. Finally, the paper points out some of the policy interventions needed so that the poor have a voice in water management and benefit from its improvement.

Perú. AEDES: Agro-exports and participatory tourism

The Specialized Association for Sustainable Development (AEDES) is oriented toward the sustainable development of populations in critical conditions of extreme poverty in the south of Perú. Such development is achieved by means of sustainable development activities in the Cotahuasi River Sub-basin.