PartageÖ
Faced with climate extremes such as flooding, drought, soil loss, lowering groundwater levels and rising temperatures, rainwater is more than ever at the heart of adaptation issues on the international agenda.
IRHA is a member of the Platform for Food Sovereignty (PSA), a working group of 15 Geneva-based NGOs belonging to the Geneva Federation for Cooperation (FGC), which works to promote food sovereignty through development projects and the sharing of knowledge.
In the current context of increasing pressure on water resources, many of the PSA's member organizations (MOs) are suffering (in their projects) from a lack of water.
IRHA has increasingly seen the need to [re]think water management by leveraging this resource, its expertise and its network to strengthen the FGC's MOs in promoting different local and contextualized solutions.
Donors
Fédération Genevoise de Coopération - Fonds Partages des Savoirs
Partners
Association Suisse-Cameroun
E-changer-Genève
F.H Suisse
Emp'act
GRAD-s
Graine de Baobab
IRED
Jardins de Cocagne
SeCoDév
Swissaid-Genève
Tourism for Help
Uniterre
CETIM
Philea
Total cost
31 813 CHF
2023-2024 : 12 months
The benefits of our approach
During recent joint PSA meetings, some NGO's (part of the souverainteé alimentaire plateforme of FGC) shared the difficulties of access to water in some of their projects. From these exchanges was born the idea of responding to their request by sharing knowledge on rainwater management, practices and solutions, mobilizing as well IRHA's network.
Formed in 2002, IRHA is an alliance of partner organizations involved in rainwater management. It currently comprises 7 national NGOs: American Rainwater Catchment System Association (ARCSA), Mexican Rainwater Association (AMSCALL), Associação Brasileira de Captação e Manejode Água de Chuva (ABCMAC), Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum (LRWHF), Rainwater Harvesting Association of Malawi (RHAM), Rainwater Harvesting Cambodia (RWC) and Association Sénégalaise de Gestion d'Eau de Pluie (ASGEP).
To date, collaborative sharing has already taken place within the Alliance through exchanges of experiences and practices. This sharing of practices feeds knowledge and understanding on how people approach rainwater / stormwater mangement and develop context specific responses.
In 2022, Lanka Rain Water Harvesting Forum (LRWHF, Sri Lanka) has shared its knowledge and technical skills in the construction of Pumpkin Tank (cistern) with nepali communities and rainwater promotion NGOs such as Kanchan Nepal. A trained and experienced LRWHF mason visited the site and led construction workshops for local people. After completion of the training, some hundred "Pumpkin Tanks" were built in cooperation with these communities, providing drinking water for communities.
Like the activities carried out within the Alliance, South-South cooperation, knowledge sharing, capacity building is the very essence of "PartageÖ", a project that aims to share know-how, context specific solutions on rainwater management through geographical synergy [Partageo].
The players involved
The "PartageÖ" project is based on active cooperation between a number of stakeholders from the South and the North.
The International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA)
The International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva since November 2002. Its mission is to promote better rainwater management, and to achieve this, IRHA: i) develops technical solutions in the field; ii) conducts information and public awareness campaigns; and iii) calls on the authorities to implement conservation policies. IRHA's role here is to act as an interface and mediator in the networking of rainwater management (RWM) stakeholders, with a view to transferring skills.
The NGOs of the Platform for Food Sovereignty (PSA)
The Plateforme Souveraineté Alimentaire (PSA) is a working group of 15 Geneva-based NGOs within the Fédération Genevois de Coopération (FGC). It is part of a dynamic of knowledge sharing between its members. IRHA has already presented the PartageÖ project to the PSA's OMs at the plenary session on May 10, 2023. A survey form was distributed to the OMs present. They were enthusiastic about the proposal, which addresses the concerns of certain members. 2 target projects have already been identified, led by the NGO Graine de Baobab (Burkina Faso) and Tourism forHelp (Senegal).
IRHA's partners
IRHA's partners are Alliance members, mainly national NGOs and regional rainwater promotion and management networks. They may also be local NGOs with whom IRHA works on projects mainly in Asia (Sri Lanka and Nepal), Sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal) or Central Africa (Rwanda, Uganda and Malawi).
PSA's on-site partners
IRHA's GEP partners will share their knowledge with the local partners of the PSA's MOs. As they are responsible for the operational implementation of the projects, it is the various local players who will incorporate GEP into their projects.
PartageÖ Ep.1
IRHA
International Environment House 2
Chemin de Balexert, 9
CH-1219 Châtelaine
Tel. : +41 22 797 41 57
E-mail : secretariat@irha-h2o.org