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Southeast Asia

Second Phase of EJN Project to Improve Inclusive Reporting on Mekong Water Governance Issues Comes to a Close 

fisherwoman on a boat in Vietnam

More than 60 million people live in the Mekong basin, and over 340 million people reside in the wider Mekong region, where rivers and streams play a vital role in agriculture and fisheries, and are also being exploited for development and for energy.

According to a recent Oxfam report, “women [in the region] perform important tasks related to water usage and management within their households. They engage in water-dependent livelihoods, process food, collect water, and perform cleaning and washing duties at the river. They are often disproportionately disadvantaged when water regimes change, and their voices are the least heard in decision-making on water issues.” 

To help journalists shed light on these disproportionate impacts, and to report more inclusively on regional water governance issues, the EJN Asia-Pacific team embarked on a second phase of the project, Reporting on Mekong water governance from a gender and social inclusive lens, supported by Oxfam. 

Over ten months, we trained nine journalists from lower Mekong countries through a three-day workshop and a story grant and mentorship program. The project recently came to a close at the end of April this year. Of these nine participants, five were women and three were under the age of 30.  

The workshop was held from 3-5 October 2023 in Ubon Ratchathani province, in the northeast of Thailand. The sessions covered challenges and lesson learned from Phase 1, key water governance issues in Lower Mekong countries, transboundary environmental issues, and strategies to enhance Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in environmental reporting. Participants also got to meet with experts who work closely with women in rural areas, people with disabilities and Indigenous peoples. 

Journalists also had the opportunity to visit flood-prone areas and interview affected community members to understand how they cope and help one another during the flood season. On the field trip, journalists also met with academics from Ubon University who have carried out research and field activities to mitigate flood impact in the province. 

In the pre-and post-workshop surveys, all responded participants confirmed that their knowledge and confidence to report on water governance issues through a GESI lens had improved. 

Following the workshop, the journalists received story grants to work on their in-depth stories and each of them was paired with a senior journalist and Internews’ GESI Specialist to guide them on how to center the experiences and perspectives of different gender groups and marginalized communities.

Grantees produced seven stories published in English, Vietnamese and Thai. Their reports covered a wide range of issues, including challenges faced by women in the tourism industry in Laos and in Vietnam, biodiversity loss in the Mekong River, how the urban poor are affected by annual floods in Thailand, how Indigenous communities are consuming polluted water and women are patrolling to curb illegal fishing in Cambodia, and the plight of female garment workers in Vietnam who moved from big cities back to rural areas as they got laid off from factories.

Each of these EJN-supported stories sought to inform the public and raise their awareness of the importance of inclusive water governance policies that would safeguard the interests of women and marginalized communities who depend in some way on the Mekong River for their livelihoods.

“EJN's opportunities helped me become a better journalist and improved my skills. I see a better version of myself year on year,” said grantee Quach Thi Kieu Mai, a journalist from Vietnam. 

“This phase of the project helped deepen journalists’ knowledge and widen their perspectives, not only on water issues but also on GESI angles. We hope they continue to report on these meaningful topics throughout the course of their careers,” said Juthamas Sukitjanont, project officer. 


Banner image: A fisherwoman on the Mekong River / Credit: Alain Chauvin via Flickr.