Co-creating Knowledge to Enhance Women’s Leadership for Inclusive River Governance and Livelihood Resilience in the Mekong Region

Women’s vulnerability has drastically increased as a consequence of Covid-19, further increasing the burdens they shoulder as well as threatening the food security and livelihoods of communities who rely on local waterways for survival. The Co-creating Knowledge to Enhance Women’s Leadership for Inclusive River Governance and Livelihood Resilience in the Mekong Region Project works to accelerate progress towards women’s leadership in river governance and enhance women’s livelihood resilience in the Mekong region by identifying and implementing the most effective mechanisms for knowledge co-creation. The research develops a co-creation of knowledge framework based on existing literature and interviews across the region, and subsequently tests and implements this framework in communities in Thailand and Myanmar, emphasising women’s engagement and leadership. Women, and men, in the communities then work to develop a locally-appropriate curriculum, identify research questions and hypotheses, and implement a monitoring program-cum-research methodology to answer those questions with the support of the project team, and to develop a shared vision related to future livelihoods with other local stakeholders. A series of communication outputs coming out of the project will be designed for multiple audiences in order to enhance project scalability and adaptation for other regional contexts. Knowledge is power, and the incorporation of women’s knowledge into river management is essential for improved water governance to support, sustain and eventually enhance local livelihoods throughout the region. The current pandemic only further highlights the urgency of doing so.