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Water, peace and security (WPS) partnership: Mali

Since 2012, Mali has been experiencing continuous water insecurity and conflicts. Initially spared from instability, the Inner Niger Delta – the largest floodplain in Africa situated in Central Mali – has become a hotspot of inter-communal violence and an operational base for armed groups and militias. The Delta is home to more than 2 million people whose farming, fishing and cattle-raising livelihoods strongly depend on the Delta’s ecosystems. The use of shared resources for these people, such as access to floodplains, has primarily been managed through local governance and traditional structures. However, the ecosystems and people’s livelihoods are affected by the increasing variability in water availability due to climate change and upstream water allocation decisions.

C4P_WPS Mali

Control over water resources in this context is straining relations between farmer, pastoralist and fishermen communities. Shared resources management is also challenged by shifting power dynamics in the region, as local governance is being captured by groups with various ethnic or religious agendas, which instrumentalize deeply seated grievances around access to resources. 

Water, Peace & Security (WPS) partnership engages and equips local communities in the Delta to resolve water-related conflicts through dialogue and mediation. WPS has helped establish three dialogue platforms in the region, supported with evidence from information tools and trained in water cooperation and conflict mediation.

On a national-scale, WPS raises awareness and supports the development of conflict-sensitive water policies, operational instruments and investments focused on upstream-downstream relations in the Delta. Champions from various departments and governance levels are being trained to understand the complex dynamics of water-related conflicts and how policy decisions play a role. These trainings are informed by tools that show linkages between policy choices and water-based livelihood decisions versus water and natural resources access in the Delta.

WPS will link their local dialogue platforms with each other and support their advocacy efforts towards subnational and national authorities. Through participatory causal chain analysis, champions from various governance levels will identify more conflict-sensitive water and natural resources policies and ways to manage water and other shared resources across scales. WPS seeks to operationalize and fund these ideas through presentations at high-profile political meetings in Bamako, throughout the Delta and among the international community and regional forums.

This description was originally published on the Water, Peace and Security (WPS) partnership’s website. The full description can be found here.

 

Contact person and email:

info@waterpeacesecurity.org

@WaterPeaceSec

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Supported by the Netherlands

Type: Dialogue/advocacy, Process

Relevant action areas: 2. Mobilising climate/biodiversity finance for peace; 4. Climate security risk-informed peace; 5. Knowledge and experience sharing; 6. Cooperation through dialogue

Location of project: Inner Niger Delta, Mali

Duration: 2018-present

Partners: IHE Delft, World Resources Institute, Deltares, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, Wetlands International, International Alert

Key activities: Dialogue platforms, water cooperation and conflict-sensitive water policies, operational instruments and investments