OGB TROSA 2.0 -Oxfam in Bangladesh The transboundary Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basins harbor a wide variety of ecosystems and provide ecosystem services to billions of people. However, the GBM system and its services are under threat due to unregulated infrastructure developments, non-inclusive governance, unrealistic policies, unplanned land use practices, and climate change. Considering the geopolitical context and hydro-politics of the region, potential scopes for effective regional governance to uphold GBM’s ecological integrityare a must. Moreover, it is imperative to share common river water and riverine ecosystem services among China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Bangladesh is required for the betterment of grassroots river people who are in the front line to face the impact ofany river management or governance-related interventions. Although GBM Basin countries have signed several bilateral agreements and established joint mechanismsfor coordination, these agreements do not adequately address the pressing issues confronted by the region. Therefore, a common platform for all stakeholders is utterly needed to strive together to preserve the integrity of the GBM system ensuring the resource rights to river-dependent communities.
TROSA Phase 1 was a five-year (2017-2021) regionalwater governance program of Oxfam, supported by the SIDA; worked in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) and Salween basins in Asia. It was implemented by two local level partners- Center for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS) and Gana Unnanyan Kendra (GUK) working in Meghna basin and Brahmaputra basin, respectively. There were meetings, policy dialogues, public hearings organized under TROSA so that community can be more involved with CSO, private sectors, local leaders, governments etc. to practice theirrights over natural resources. This paved the way to change the narrative of people’s mindset about how the river ecosystem should be governed. Oxfam emphasized co-creation and rejuvenated century-long traditional measures to protect erosion in some of the transboundary rivers in Bangladesh.  Conflicts and lack of cooperation amongst the rivers’ stakeholders leave the poor, marginalized riverine communities vulnerable and at a disadvantage stage. TROSA 1 worked on various issues of river governance that hasimpact on the river communities e.g., fisheries management, sand mining, river erosion, and inland water navigation; with an intention of establishing community inclusion in the river governance system. Through the advocacy of TROSA Phase 1, government hasstarted taking account the concerns regarding the social safety net coverage of fisherfolks, and illegal sand mining. Willingness to strengthen the institutional capacity of fisherfolk associations and solidarity with community of small-scale sand minersto stop illegal sand mining has been a found. Another great achievement of TROSA Phase 1 is how community advanced with their indigenous knowledge of environment friendly, cost-effective mechanism of river erosion control, Bandal, through learning and sharing, and influenced local government for finance it. In these movement, women leadership has contributed to most cases, and youth has set a wonderful example in community rapport building, even during the pandemic. Along with these achievement in Phase 1,it was also well understood that there are still a lot of work need to be done, and continued  to create an opportunity for mainstreaming inclusive, gender sensitive, water and climate cooperation that supports locally-led actions and sustained resiliencefor riparian communities
Based on the achievements and learnings of TROSA Phase 1, TROSA Phase 2: Rivers, Rights, and Resilience (T2:3R) is now more focused increasing the resilience of the riparian communities against climate change impact througha strong basin-wise approach. The project envisions to overcome the limitations of TROSA 1 and will work to support climate-resilient livelihoods for vulnerable natural-resource-dependent communities in the GBM basins, improve management of transboundaryriverecosystems, and scale up efforts to empower and increase participation of women, youth and Indigenous People in water governance across the basins, as well as strengthen institutions for cooperation on the governance of shared water resources.