An examination of the South Asia Water Initiative and associated donor-led processes in the transboundary water governance of the Ganges-Brahmaputra problemshed
type: CreativeWork
description: Because of the complex nature of transboundary water governance, and the inherent unpredictability of complex adaptive systems, this thesis argues that international actors alone are unable to directly bring about positive water interaction between riparian states. This thesis analyses a major World Bank-led program of transboundary water governance, and provides a critique of the recent trend in international development to address transboundary water conflicts in developing countries through foreign-led interventions. This thesis examines the perspectives and needs of stakeholders affected by the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI) to evaluate the effect that this, and other donor-led processes, may have on the quality of transboundary water interaction between riparian states. These in-basin views have remained absent from, or secondary to, international assessments and approaches to addressing water conflict and cooperation. The portion of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna mega-basin that is shared between Nepal, Bhutan, northern India, and Bangladesh is one of the poorest, most densely populated, ecologically vulnerable, and socially and politically unstable in the world. It is possible that water will be a stress multiplier in socio-political conflict in this problemshed. Reducing the potential for transboundary water conflict by increasing cooperation between riparian states has been of particular interest to policymakers, aid donors, and scholars of conflict for more than a decade. The World Bank began to intervene in the transboundary water governance in South Asia in the mid-2000s, and SAWI is its most ambitious of its initiatives in this regard. Yet, in more than a decade of existence, neither SAWI nor other international initiatives, such as those of the Australian and UK governments, have been able to improve transboundary water interactions between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. An analysis of more than 30 semi-structured interviews with subject matte…
abstract: Because of the complex nature of transboundary water governance, and the inherent unpredictability of complex adaptive systems, this thesis argues that international actors alone are unable to directly bring about positive water interaction between riparian states. This thesis analyses a major World Bank-led program of transboundary water governance, and provides a critique of the recent trend in international development to address transboundary water conflicts in developing countries through foreign-led interventions. This thesis examines the perspectives and needs of stakeholders affected by the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI) to evaluate the effect that this, and other donor-led processes, may have on the quality of transboundary water interaction between riparian states. These in-basin views have remained absent from, or secondary to, international assessments and approaches to addressing water conflict and cooperation. The portion of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna mega-basin that is shared between Nepal, Bhutan, northern India, and Bangladesh is one of the poorest, most densely populated, ecologically vulnerable, and socially and politically unstable in the world. It is possible that water will be a stress multiplier in socio-political conflict in this problemshed. Reducing the potential for transboundary water conflict by increasing cooperation between riparian states has been of particular interest to policymakers, aid donors, and scholars of conflict for more than a decade. The World Bank began to intervene in the transboundary water governance in South Asia in the mid-2000s, and SAWI is its most ambitious of its initiatives in this regard. Yet, in more than a decade of existence, neither SAWI nor other international initiatives, such as those of the Australian and UK governments, have been able to improve transboundary water interactions between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. An analysis of more than 30 semi-structured interviews with subject matte…
author: Hanasz, Paula Maria
language: en
keywords: transboundary water governance, water conflict, water cooperation, transboundary water interactions, South Asia, Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, Ganges River, Brahmaputra River, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, World Bank
date published: 2016
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:07:48Z
provider: Australian Catholic University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Australian Catholic University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/125169