Latin America & Caribbean Chapter
Background
Latin America is the most diverse continent in terms of water resources, where coexisting regions with great abundance of water with severe scarcity and an astonishing diversity of ecosystems and cultural differences related to water use. It presents the largest river basin on earth (the Amazon Basin), the driest desert (the Atacama desert), the longest mountain chain (the Andes), unique ecosystems (Amazon Forest), Mata Atlantica, Cerrado, Catinga, Pantanal, Gran Chaco and Bofedales) and traditional communities.
This diversity of natural elements, social and economic aspects highlights the importance of water governance in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries. As such, there is an urgent need to support and encourage LAC countries’ water governance to protect water and develop its use in an equitable way, respecting the cultural differences and ecosystem needs, in the context of SDGs.
Climate change adds complexity to the LAC water situation. Chilean and Argentine Andes glaciers have been retreating during the last decade, meanwhile Amazonia and the Pantanal faced in 2020 the worst drought in the past 60 years, as well tropical storms and hurricanes affected Central America. Despite this, there are considerable gaps in research concerning several topics related to water governance and adaptation measures in the region. For these reasons the IWRA Executive Office established the Latin America and Caribbean Chapter on the theme of Water Governance based on science for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience as a Task Force.
Objectives
The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Chapter Bureau will focus on promoting knowledge about water governance to water professionals from academia, government and industry, young professionals, universities researchers and students, community leaders and representatives at all levels of government, including national and international agencies.
By facilitating this dialogue, the Chapter expects to:
• Stimulate the debate and reflection about water governance, promote the exchange of ideas between countries and
• Motivate better water policies and innovative actions to address Latin-American challenges.
• Become a catalyst to promote a comprehensive approach of water security and governance based on robust science for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience.
Organisation
The LAC Chapter Bureau will lead the IWRA LAC Chapter for Water Security and Governance based on science for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. The main role of the bureau is to facilitate coordination and management, expand activities, and attract more members. Moreover, the chapter is led by Chapter members and is closely supported by both the IWRA Board and Executive Office. The LAC Chapter will create a number of working groups (WG) that have clear mandates, activities and deliverables with associated timelines on priority objectives for the Chapter.
The LAC Chapter’s objective to expedite the discourse on the goals and ways forward to achieve water security and good water governance based on science for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience are the following:
● Highlight good practices and existing challenges of achieving water security and multilevel governance based on science for mitigation, adaptation, and resilience in the region.
● Definition of multilevel water governance based on the LAC reality (what does it mean, how we can assess urban water security, what are key challenges and opportunities).
● Strengthening the planning framework for defining the priorities to achieve water security in LAC countries and multilevel governance at different scales.
● Highlight the importance of international cooperation to overcome the LAC challenges
Ariana Rossen – Chairperson
Guillermo Donoso
Pilar Carolina Villar
Félix Sebastián Riera
Jorge Wernek
Lucia Ruiz- Water Security and Governance, social development and innovative solutions
- Groundwater: Governance and sustainable management
- Nexus water, food and energy
- Water management balancing availability and quality
- Water access and sanitation
- Community and Youth engagement
Activities
To achieve its objectives, the LAC Chapter will promote coherence and coordination with IWRA and its task forces through the following activities:
- Develop publication of articles, guides and manuals on related topics.
- Organise webinars, conferences, and workshops.
- Form coalitions with other international and national organisations in the region
- Promote and spread research papers and investigations.
- Facilitate communication and interaction between other regional chapters and members of IWRA.
- Contribute and promote projects and initiatives on priority subjects for LAC countries.
- Support and coordinate initiatives developed by IWRA task forces in the LAC region.
- Encourage the promotion of science, technology, and the best practices through IWRA communication channels.
- Stimulate Policy Dialogues and Briefs – with policy makers, scholars, and practitioners.
Contact details
For more information, or to become involved in the Chapter’s activities, please contact: arianarossen@gmail.com
