2020 Asia Women and Rivers Congress Online Workshops

The 2020 Asia Women and Rivers Congress will hold a series of women focused on-line workshops between July to September. Sadly our plans to meet face to face in the region to follow up on the March 2019 Congress have had to change due to the pandemic but we are determined to keep the spirit and networking alive through virtual workshops.

How do women facing systems of oppression become empowered within their communities to take on leadership roles in the management and governance of their water resources? What ingredients are key to this "recipe" for successful leadership? And how can we seek this change collectively under today's ever-evolving circumstances?

These are some of the questions we seek to explore together in a series of virtual workshops convened by Oxfam and International Rivers from July to September 2020.

These workshops are taking place in light of our cancellation of the Women and Rivers - Asia Regional Congress. The Congress, originally scheduled for March 2020, was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Workshops will prioritize participants of the previous Women and Rivers Congress in 2019 and those who would have attended the Congress in 2020, and are also open to the public. Interested participants must register to attend via Zoom. Learn more and register below.

Workshop 1: Knowledge as the Basis of Change

July 3, 2020 | 3:00 - 4:30pm Bangkok Time (GMT+7)

Register by June 28

This workshop will serve as an introduction and overview to the concepts of women's leadership in river governance, as laid out in the released report, State of Knowledge: Women and Rivers in the Mekong Region. This study was recommended by Congress participants in 2019. It recognizes and values women’s knowledge of their rivers and resources, and explores how to bridge the divide between academic, economic and science-based knowledge and that of local riverine communities. We will hear directly from the authors of the report about their research and findings, followed by reflections from a panel of women leaders in river governance issues. Time will also be allowed for plenary discussion, and to introduce prompts and exercises for the subsequent webinar sessions.

About the State of Knowledge report authors:

Dr. Pichamon Yeophantong is an Australian Research Council Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales (Canberra). Her expertise is in China, transboundary rivers and water governance in the Mekong region.

Karen Delfau is an independent consultant working in Europe and across the Asia Pacific to support water governance, gender equality and social inclusion, and climate resilience through research, knowledge management, and facilitation.

Workshop 2: Putting Together Your Recipe for Women's Leadership

August 14, 2020 | 3:00 - 5:00pm Bangkok Time (GMT+7)

This session will delve deeper into implementing the "recipe for women's leadership" laid out in the State of Knowledge report. Interactive group work will focus on applying the methodology to your local context, explanation of specific tools, and the challenges and opportunities presented by the impacts of COVID-19. Participants will be encouraged to share stories of their work as a means of building on each others' collective knowledge and experience.

Workshop 3: Action and Leadership in Times of Change

September 25, 2020 | 3:00 - 5:00pm Bangkok Time (GMT+7)

Our final session will be a chance for participants to share how information from the previous two workshops has influenced their work, and address specific challenges in implementation. We will also explore further the impacts of Covid-19 on our work and how we can collectively adapt to evolving circumstances.