The well-being of humans, their livelihoods, and the socioeconomic challenges they face daily are at the heart of on-the-ground programmatic work, demanding that each initiative prioritizes stakeholder interaction and community participation. In the design, execution, and evaluation of the UNEP International Waters portfolio, this inclusive approach to development has served as a guiding principle.
While many organizations focus on either a top-down approach, focusing on governments and state agencies, or a bottom-up approach, surveying local people, the UNEP International Waters team prides itself on achieving a synergy between the two, resulting in maximum cooperation and partnership among stakeholders.
Locals are empowered to oversee the management of their natural resources and participate in decision-making through UNEP's approach, which emphasizes comprehensive, community-driven planning. This method produces foundational capacity building, targeted ecosystem-based cooperative management of transboundary water systems, and national-level legislative and policy reform.
UNEP also works with local governments to increase their capacity to promote the sustainable use of natural resources and executes a number of programs that involve communities in environmental governance.
Just some of our key projects that have shown the power of this community-led approach include:
- IWEco: Integrating Water, Land, and Wastewater Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States
- WIO-SAP: Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the Protection of the Western Indian Ocean from Land-based Sources and Activities
- Establishment and Operation of a Regional System of Fisheries Refugia in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand
