ICIMOD held a five-day training session on integrated water management 25-29 August 2015 in Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar.

Participants were instructed in the various aspects of sustainable water management technology including: design and implementation of technologies for multi-uses like drinking and irrigation; multiple water use systems (MUS); the three Rs of integrated water resource management (re-charge, retention, reuse); and methodology for drinking water quality assessment and treatment options.

The workshop was part of the Rural Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation in the Himalayas (Himalica) Initiative in collaboration with Myanmar Institute of International Development (MIID) and the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Forestry (MoECAF), Myanmar.

The training was facilitated by ten resource persons with materials translated into Burmese by MIID resource persons. Twenty-nine participants, including 12 women, attended the training.

The training also included sessions on farm, catchment level soil , improving drinking water quality, behaviour change and conservation agriculture. Learning opportunities were expanded through discussions, group work, multimedia, site visits to the Department of Agriculture, Himalica and a farmer’s field. Practical sessions on basic water conservation techniques — like making contour lines using A-frame, half-moon pits, contour trench, fascine, and a waste water collection pond — were organised in the field.

“This training has unbundled many interesting aspects which are relevant and applicable in the state I work”, said participant Bawi Tha. “Similar trainings would really benefit the people of Chin State where water problems are severe and worsening every year”.

HIMALICA initiative is financed by European Union (EU) and aims to support poor and vulnerable mountain communities in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

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