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1. What is the difference between sharing water and sharing the benefits of water?

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When does it make sense to share and who are the stakeholders? Key concepts & skills: • The benefits of cooperation • When and how to engage stakeholders • A roadmap for engagement • Mechanism for benefit sharing in practice • Applying benefit sharing at all levels

Recommended (Handbooks & Toolkits):

37.jpg SHARE: managing waters across boundaries (IUCN, 2008)
A WANI publication, it provides an overview of the world's shared water resources and insights for managing these resources. It underscores the broad range of benefits that can be derived through cooperative management of international rivers and the need for equity in benefit sharing, particularly with regard to project-affected people. The book is also available in Spanish.

38.jpg NEGOTIATE: reaching agreements over water (IUCN, 2010)
Water practitioners are increasingly called upon to negotiate workable agreements about how to best use, manage and care for water resources. This guide makes the case for constructive engagement and cooperative forms of negotiation in dealing with complex water issues. It unpacks constructive approaches such as Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) and consensus building, and finally focuses on the diversity of agreements which can be produced to regulate or encourage fairer and more effective water allocation and use.

Recommended (Case Studies):

Sharing the water, sharing the benefits: Lessons form six large dams in West Africa (IIED, 2011) 39.jpg
This publication reviews detailed experience from six dams in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal through the lens of “benefit sharing” with local populations, which asks to what extent the affected communities have indeed benefited from the dam and how the multiple positive consequences from water use have been shared between different actors. The lessons learned from these experiences can guide future decision making. The book is also available in French.

Volta River Basin, Ghana & Burkina Faso (IUCN):
Transboundary water management through multi-level participatory governance and community projects

Senegal River Basin Development Organisation (IUCN): Integrated Management of the Senegal River

Nile Basin Initiative (IUCN): An inclusive discourse – stakeholder engagement in the Nile Basin

North American Great Lakes (IUCN): Information and participation in the North American Great Lakes

EU Water Framework Directive (IUCN): Compliance, enforcement and dispute settlement under the European Union Water Framework Directive

Mekong River Commission (IUCN): Mekong Agreement Lacks Requirements for National Rules

Tigris and Euphrates (IUCN): The Tigris-Euphrates Joint Technical Committee – deadlocked

Stories from the IUCN-WANI (Water And Nature Initiative):

Africa: Volta River Basin: Flowing Words Calm Troubled Waters; Senegal: Giving Voices to a Trans-National River Mouth; Overcoming Barriers to a Landmark Code of Conduct for the Volta; Lake Tanganyika: A challenge of diversity; Challenge and Vision of River Basin Management and the Okavango Delta

Americas: Los países andinos asumen en conjunto el manejo del agua

Asia: Rapid blasting in the Mekong

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