By: Pianporn Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director This article originally appeared in The Nation. As a new year dawns, the waters of the Mekong River remain turbulent with uncertainty. While many take holidays and prepare for the new year, the people of the Mekong face an unknown future. Earlier this month, residents along the Mekong…
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By: Rudo Sanyanga, former Africa Program Director & Ange Asanzi, former Africa Campaign Coordinator On October 16, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government announced a 14 billion USD joint and exclusive development agreement with a consortium of Chinese and European developers to construct the Inga 3 hydroelectric dam, following years of delay and controversy….
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By: Maureen Harris, Programs Director This article originally appeared in The Myanmar Times The International Finance Corporation’s Vikram Kumar published a letter in the September 20 Myanmar Times in response to an article on civil society and community boycotts of IFC-sponsored consultations on hydropower in Shan State. The consultations form part of a cumulative impact assessment of…
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By: Maureen Harris, Programs Director International Rivers expresses its concern and regret about the tragic loss of life and hardship facing communities living downstream of the collapsed dam in Lao PDR. An auxillary dam that was part of the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower scheme on the Xepian River collapsed the night of July 23 as…
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Today, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee took the decision to officially inscribe Lake Turkana as a World Heritage site “in danger” because of severe impacts caused by the Gibe 3 Dam, constructed upstream on Ethiopia’s Omo River. The dam and associated sugar plantations have severely restricted flows into Kenya’s Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake. “We…
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International Rivers’ advocacy training in DRC aimed at strengthening the movement of civil society partners and community groups to effectively advocate for the protection of rivers, rights of dam affected communities, and energy access. At the end of the training, groups were encouraged to sing their visions for their campaigns, which helped them take ownership…
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By: Monti Aquirre, Latin America Program Director A convergence of forces this month around Colombia’s largest hydroelectric dam have demonstrated the extreme threats posed to the environment and human life when rivers are mismanaged in an absence of accountability and governance. The Ituango hydroelectric dam on the Cauca River, now at an estimated cost of…
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By: Maureen Harris, Programs Director Originally published on Bangkok Post Today, on International Women’s Day, a recent trip to the Mekong Basin serves as a reminder that women’s voices must be central to decision-making on hydropower, and in broader energy planning for Thailand and the region. The Nam Ou River, a longest tributary of the…
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By: Josh Klemm, Policy Director Last month, after a long-running saga, the World Bank signed away its legal obligation to protect Uganda’s Kalagala Falls, a site of immense spiritual and biodiversity value near the headwaters of the Nile River. By granting Ugandan authorities permission to flood Kalagala, the Bank has harmed thousands of local people…
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The Brahmaputra River has repeatedly been the centre ground of diplomatic hostility between China, India and Bangladesh. With no transboundary treaty or common understanding between the countries sharing the river, downstream countries have repeatedly raised concerns that China, the upstream riparian country, would dam and divert the glacial meltwaters that are crucial not only for…
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By: Fidelis Zvomuya “Rather than look upstream in anger, we must start looking downstream with compassion,” said 79-year-old Mafiosi Siabwanda, a Tonga elder from Mola in the Nyaminyami District of Kariba, Zimbabwe. He admitted that human activities happening upstream in1 the Zambezi River are having devastating impacts downstream. “The situation is dire,” he said. “Millions of…
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