Project implementation:
Lead: OBHIZATRIK Foundation | Partners: Innovative Development Practitioners and Thinkers (INDEPTH) Limited
About the project
CharLata, a vulnerable island in the Meghna River Basin, faces recurrent cyclones, tidal surges, and salinity intrusion. Women play a central role in water use and household management but remain excluded from governance structures. This project will empower 60 women from fishing and farming households to lead in community water committees, disaster preparedness groups, and basin level policy dialogues. OBHIZATRIK Foundation will lead mobilisation and training, while INDEPTH provides technical, analytical, and advocacy expertise. Activities include a participatory gender audit, leadership training, and co-creation of a Women’s Water Governance Action Plan. The project aligns with BRIDGE objectives by fostering inclusive, equitable, and climate-resilient governance in a transboundary basin.
Key objectives
1. Conduct a participatory gender audit of local water governance bodies.
2. Build leadership, negotiation, and technical skills of 60 women.
3. Develop and institutionalise a Women’s Water Governance Action Plan with committees and basin stakeholders.
4. Integrate climate resilience and disaster preparedness into gender mainstreaming strategies.
This project is part of the BRIDGE (Building River Dialogue and Governance) initiative grants: Gender Mainstreaming Grants / Women Leadership Grants. The BRIDGE Grants aim to address barriers to gender equality and women’s empowerment in transboundary water governance. The grants support practical actions to strengthen inclusive institutions and promote women-led solutions for managing and restoring freshwater ecosystems. BRIDGE is made possible through the Water Diplomacy Programme of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC).
