December 24, 2014
Water governance with an indigenous perspective

By Moa Cortobius, The Stockholm International Water Institute

 Throughout the world there are disparities in water and sanitation services coverage between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples due to physical and economic challenges intersecting with cultural and political marginalisation. At the same time most indigenous peoples have a close cultural and spiritual relationship to water resources in their territories and a deep knowledge of them. Yet this is often overlooked by water projects working with indigenous peoples, which compromises the effectiveness and sustainability of the services.

The report  Working with indigenous peoples in rural water and sanitation: recommendations for an intercultural approach poses recommendations on how to implement an intercultural approach throughout the project cycle in rural water and sanitation projects with indigenous peoples, focusing on Latin America.

From the research partnership Transcultural Transparency, of the UNDP Water Governance Facility at SIWI and the Spanish Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F) and the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast (URACCAN), challenges specific to water and sanitation projects working with indigenous peoples were identified.

These are the adaptation of solutions to indigenous peoples’ world views, relationships to, and knowledge of water and sanitation: the need to involve indigenous authorities and establish a relationship between them and government institutions; cultural values and economic possibilities related to tariff-setting, and the monetisation of water.

To overcome these challenges, it is recommended that dialogue is the basic tool to generate long-term relationships of mutual trust and support between the indigenous communities, the responsible authorities, and development agencies.

This dialogue requires adequate resources and sufficient time to be fruitful, with the necessary flexibility to change work plans according to community demands. It is also essential to accompany the process well beyond the construction and management of services.