CO-508412 This proposed investment is a continuation of the first phase of the Inclusion Project (IP1). The aim of IP2 contribute to “Outcome2: Support more informed, transparent and accountable water and renewable energy infrastructure decision-making processes”in  DFAT - Greater Mekong Water Resource Program -   by ensure target government and private sector actors at the national levels engage withand include the perspectives of civil society in hydro-power and Renewable Energy (RE) policies and plans. The Project builds upon the established partnerships to strengthen Civil Society Organisation (CSO) capacity and the leadership of women and representativesfrom marginalised groups to influence water governance decision making.

Women play a key role in theprovision, management and protection of water resources. This makes it necessary to identify solutions to strengthen participation in water governance at different levels. Poor understanding of the roles and contributions of different men and women oftenlead to a lack of awareness of need. Anddifferent interests in policies and programs related to water management. This lack of acceptance can lead to failure in meeting social, economic and ecological goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Social inclusion is an important cross-cutting work theme for most CSOs, which is reflected very strongly in their water governance activities which complement the efforts and activities of CSOs related to poverty reduction. Most CSOs recognize that women need to be more heavily involved in their activities and decision-making processes, but how this is handled varies. Several CSOs encourage the active participation of women in capacity building workshops, helping them to participate effectively inlocal development activities through various projects. There are, however,
also CSOs that go further and focus on women's empowerment by working closely with the community and organizing them into groups to promote women's leadership in the decision-making process, such as CLiCk and GDA.

Working with marginalized communities using methodologies such as Saobaan research, GALS, and NRM training, as well as increasing policy dialogue between marginalized communities and authorities as well as  hydro companies will ensure that communities have better understanding of their rights in relation towater governance, their capacities will be enhanced leading to increased inclusion of marginalized communities’ voices in the decision making processes that affect their lives, and duty bearers (including government authorities and private sector) will be more open to including civil society and community representatives in water related decisions.

As women are those who primary interact with water such as collection for household use, cooking, gardening, fishing etc. so IP2 in Laos will continue to focus on Women’s Leadership to make sure that women are genuinely represented in the planning stage and decisions made that affect their lives. Though involvement of new disability focused partner organizations will increase project reach beyond women. This project will continue usingmethodology such as GALS to enhance women’s and other marginalized groups self-esteem, confidence and ability to organize alongsideothers affected and impacted by water infrastructure. Project will equip women with the tools they need to build strong evidence bases with which to advocate.

Hydropower and Sustainable Energy is main area which Oxfam in Laos would like to expand on in the second phase. This connects to building of evidence base through activities under Inclusion and Women’s leadership and will increase the data available in Laos on the impact of hydropower on communities, leading to more informed dialogues and increased accountability. As in the previous phase, and across the region, gender will be used as an entry point for dialogue with companies, engaging with renewable energy as well as hydro power companies to utilize tools such as Gender Impact Assessment (GIA) and increase the ability of communities and CSO to facilitate monitoring and hold companies accountable for commitments made following use of the assessment tool.

Building new partnerships with renewable energy companies in Laos, will assist Oxfam in Laos to explore and assess the potentialof alternatives to hydro and could be another positive way to challenge the normative discourse of hydro being a ‘clean’ energy source.  In Laos there is a slightly scattered approach to CSO engagement on water governance issues, and hydro power, with pockets of work going on in different agencies and not enough knowledge transfer or sharing of expertise between. Learning from previous phase tells us that CSO partners have benefited from connections to regional work but are left somewhat ‘stranded’ when it comes to connecting to others on this issue in their own country. So, building CSO engagement and networks will continue to be a focus in the second phase, also with a hope of narrowing the gap between what’s happeningon the ground and country/regional decision makers.


Maintaining partnerships from the first phase, and the recently launched partnership with SDC, there are a range of new partners Oxfam in Laos hope to engage in this second phase. Oxfam in Laoswantto pursue partnerships that can deliver a range of tried and tested methodologies in communities and with energy companies (e.g. GALS, Saobaan research, and training on water NRM, GIA) that will assist in building an evidence base from which communities and CSO can advocate with and engage companies themselves to assess their corporate social responsibility and impact on gender and other marginalized groups affected by their actions.  Increased interaction with renewable energy companies as well as hydrocompanies will ensure that the water/ energy nexus is explored, and Oxfam in Laos’ focus is diversified to include new key players in this sector that will impact on riparian and marginalized communities.

Oxfam in Laos will play a brokering role between communities, relevant CSO and duty bearers such as government authorities and private sector companies, leading to dialogues that are enhanced and better informed by increased evidence base and data and creative story-telling and demonstration of impacts of water resource management decisions on communities.  As described briefly above, networking and alliance building at the country level will be a part of the work, both through connecting partners to regional dialogues, frameworks and decision makers, but also through strengthening connections at the country level.  Public engagement on the importance of water governancewill also be enhanced through shining a spotlight on a variety of ’hot topic’ issues that connect to water and generate adherence suchas waste/water pollution, climate change impacts.