| This action submitted in Local Actions at 4th World Water Forum (2006). | |
| Date | Mar.2,2007 |
| Region | Asia |
| Country | India |
| Actor(s) [Nation (Ministry, Agency)/Organization] |
Centre for Organisation Research & Education (CORE) |
| Partner(s) | Lamlong Keithel Phambi Nupi Lup Laihui |
| Title | ISING-GI WAAPHAM (The Question of Water) |
| Objective | The methodology is innovative and has raised enthusiasm among civil society actors, government agencies and technical people. Several follow up initiatives are in process of development in collaboration with government, in other parts of India and a braod range of thematics. The initative is intended to develop civil society information, discussion and collective action including advocacy rather than to produce direct results on a given problem. The results have so far been more in the area of increased engagements over diferent regions, involvement of a braoder and more inclusive range of stakeholders and its use in different thematic issues. |
| Contents | Damage to water sources by pollution and artificial obstructions leading alternatively to flooding and scarcity, long term deterioration of the bio-diversity and nutritional deficieny in human communities dependent on foods from water sources. Public discussion forum using video documentation and vox populi techniques to create records of probls and discussions on site with cro;ss section of local community and governance institutions. Costs of video are higher due to terrain, lack of local infrastructure and technical expertise. Initiated and piloted in the Imphal valley of Manipur, and used in Assam, ArunachalPradesh, and now in the Satpura distict, Madhya Pradesh on water and river issues. This is an indigenous peoples initative. |
| Means of Implementation |
StakeHolder; Indigenous civil society organisations Knowledge institutions Youth groups Womens campaign groups Cultural groups Technical support from private media groups Media (electronic and print) Means; All stakeholders have contributed concretely in resourcing the initiative in donations of skills, knowledge, money, equipment, venues, and participation. The 5 pilot programme sets have been 100 per cent locally funded. Lccal materials, scenarios, and cases are exclusively used. Locally available and practising indigenous knowledge or science are key. Ideas; The activity applies to a yet to be solved problem. State of the art and portable multimedia equipment was used. Local video editing facilities and expertise contributed to the activitys effectiveness. Our contribution has been in facilitation and coordination of the initative, access to local communities and other contributors, stakeholders etc., basic technical and issue related information, etc. on which to start building the process. Costs; Total costs USD 20,000 per pilot X 5 pilots = USD 100,000 All contributions for pilots were locally generated Costs can be kept down by initil investment in equipment and infrastructure; and by technical training of local actor groups |
| CSD Decision |
D-d-(ix):Protecting and rehabilitating catchment areas for regulating water flows and improving water quality, taking into account the critical role of ecosystems; D-h-(iii):Training farmers and water user associations in efficient water use and sustainable agricultural land management; D-h-(i):Using efficient irrigation and rain water harvesting technologies; |
| Attachment | |
| Situation | Ongoing |
| Target Year | High costs of technical and equipment requirements including skills, in rural communities. The action being tested for wider crosssectional and multicultural application by groups in Central India with funding support from NGOs and international donor agencies such as DFID. |
| Target Area / Place | Region:Asia-Pacific Scope:Basin |
| Expected Outcome(S) | The initative has so far demonstrated its effectiveness for application in a very broad spectrum of environments and issues. Several stakeholders in the pilot have initated follow up independently and in coordination with other stakeholders to explore expansion, extension and replicability. The activity has an extremely broad reach relevant to indigenous communities. All sections of the community had access to the activity. Youth involvement was very efective as young persons are not just more technologically savvy but also receptive to innovative ideas that involve multimedia tools and innovations in application. The activity also links, in a very real way, ancient knowledge systems and their keepers with younger generations in a comprehensive approach relevant to a current issue and problem. This action can be reproduced for practically any unsolved problem faced by any local community and local government. For more information please contact : laifungbam@coremanipur.org |
| Relevance to the Plan of Implementation of WSSD |
|
| Progress | |
| Link | |
| Other Information |
Type of Action; Plan Relevant Agencies; Civil,NGO Orientation; Preventive Replicability; Yes 4th World Water Forum: Local Actions ID; LA0719 Forum Secretariat Recommendation ; No Kyoto Prize Finalist; No Presented in Sessions; No Original Language; English |
| Contact Person | Roy Laifungbam |
| Position | Dr Debabrata Roy Laifungbam is a Meitei, an indigenous people native to the North Eastern region of India, whose territories are part of the ancient indigenous state of Mekley (Manipur) - now the Indian province (State) of Manipur. He was born in Churachandpur, a small district headquarter town in southern Manipur in 1954. He grew up in a region of internal armed conflicts, militarism and military laws as Indian security forces pitted against indigenous nationalist armed movements since the past half a century. After completing his medical studies in Christian Medical College, Vellore in India, he practiced as a gastro-intestinal surgeon and public health physician after undergoing post graduate studies in Germany and the Netherlands. He, along with some friends, established the Centre for Organisation Research & Education (CORE) in 1987 which is an indigenous peoples’ organisation focusing on policy and human rights based in Manipur. He has worked extensively in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and OXFAM to address the issue of rampant discrimination against People Living With HIV/AIDS in the early 90s. CORE is a campaign and advocacy based organisation that relies heavily on partnership with indigenous community organisations, indigenous womens organisations and movements for its work. CORE has a very strong youth and children bias in its work because of its belief that the future generations are keys to our collective future and heritage. In this context, Dr. Laifungbam focuses on the "sharing of capacities/knowledge" across organisations, communities and groups as one cornerstone of building on the human rights basis of indigenous peoples struggles against discrimination. CORE is an NGO in special consultative relationship with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations since 2005. Dr. Laifungbam and the CORE team have been involved in the indigenous peoples rights standard setting processes in the UN for about a decade, and he presently chairs the Indigenous Peoples International Caucus on Health (the Committee on Indigenous Health). He is an expert on community responses and healing processes for survivors of torture, and CORE is also a member of the International Rehabilitation Council for Victims of Torture (IRCT) and the Organisation Mondial Contre lTorture (OMCT). UN treaty-based monitoring processes is one area of Laifungbams work, and in this regard CORE has particularly interfaced with the Committee of the Rights of the Child (the CRC is the only UN core treaty that specifically addressed indigenous peoples issues and rights), and is working closely with this committee to develop a General Comment on Indigenous Children within the CRC reporting framework. Dr. Laifungbam believes in the new "internationalism" of the indigenous rights struggle, and this perspective has led him to interface and committed solidarity with other civil society and peoples movements - national, regional and global. These areas include broadly the issues of environment and sustainable development (Rio process, CBD, UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, CDM and the Carbon Market, Wetlands), Debt and Trade (Jubilee South and Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development), campaign against the IFIs, and the rivers and anti-dam movements (he is presently co-coordinator of the South Asian Solidarity for Rivers and Peoples - SARP). He is an advocate for indigenous rights streaming into human rights movement in Asia and engages actively with the ethnic minorities/indigenous communities organisations of India, Burma, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries of South East and Far Eastern Asia. He has been associated with Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact and Forum Asia for some years. |
| laifungbam@coremanipur.org | |
| Tel | |
| Fax | |
| Address | |
| List | Home | English to Spanish | Spanish to English |