On November 25, Nordeco co-organized a public seminar under the Danish Development Research Network on the implications of water reforms for local water governance and the poor in developing countries.

For the rural poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America, secure and permanent access to water is usually a dream rather than a reality. Often, natural water scarcity, insufficient technology and most recently climate change is blamed for this situation. But there are also other factors behind the lack of secure water access, which relate to how water should be governed. How, for instance, is water allocated between different users - who gets how much and on what conditions? And who decides what those conditions are, in the first place?  Likewise, when conflicts over access to water erupt at local levels, what are the outcomes for the poorest, and to what extent are they able to take part in conflict resolution and cooperation over water? In the past week, Danish and International researchers and practitioners have explored and debated these issues in two connected events.

A summary of the seminar can be found here.