A Boost for Integrated Water Management in the Amazon

Integrated water management in the Amazon gained momentum today with the opening of the National Workshop of the Strategic Actions Program (PAE) in the Amazon Basin, held at the headquarters of the OTCA in Brasília, organized in partnership with the National Water Agency and Basic Sanitation (ANA – Brazil). Similar events aimed at implementing the Strategic Actions Program (PAE) – the first regional strategy for Integrated Water Resources Management in the Amazon – have been taking place in all Amazonian countries since August 2023.

Inauguration and Participation of Relevant Authorities

The implementation workshop of the PAE in Brazil was opened by the Executive Director of OTCA, Vanessa Grazziotin, together with Minister Waldez Góes from the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Anna Flávia de Senna Franco, and the Acting President-Director of ANA, Ana Carolina Argolo.

Focus on Regional Cooperation and Gender Perspective

The authorities unanimously emphasized the importance of regional cooperation for the sustainable development of the Amazon. Director Vanessa Grazziotin highlighted the efforts made by OTCA and its Member Countries to establish integrated water resources management in the Amazon, emphasizing the successful implementation process of the PAE, which is simultaneously carried out in the eight Amazonian countries under the Amazon Basin Project (OTCA/GEF/UNEP).

Recognizing OTCA’s role in promoting cooperation among Amazonian countries, Minister Waldez Góes emphasized the work carried out in partnership with ANA to strengthen integrated water resources management in the region. “Given the magnitude of the challenge we face ahead, including extreme weather events, shared management of the Amazon Basin is of strategic importance for the region’s sustainability, climate change adaptation, and biodiversity conservation,” said the minister.

Ana Carolina Argolo, Acting President-Director of ANA, highlighted the agency’s commitment to the Strategic Actions Program (PAE) and regional cooperation, aiming to promote sustainable and resilient water use in the region. “I emphasize here that our pursuit of water security in the Amazon region is effective nationally today. So, our intention is that, internationally, we can cooperate as much as possible with the other countries,” Argolo concluded.

Representing the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, Acting Executive Secretary Anna Flávia de Senna Franco emphasized the centrality of water management in achieving climate justice and social well-being in the Amazon Region. “We must remember that where there is no water, there is hunger and social injustice. Water management is a fundamental tool for climate justice and social promotion […] The implementation of the PAE Program is an extremely important contribution to the results we intend to achieve,” Franco stated.

Participants in the National Workshop of the Strategic Actions Program in the Amazon Basin are relevant actors in the field of water resources who will work in thematic groups until this Wednesday afternoon, the 28th, to identify priority actions and formulate recommendations for the implementation of the PAE in the Brazilian Amazon, aiming at shared management of transboundary waters by the eight OTCA countries.

To ensure the transversal inclusion of the gender theme in the implementation of the PAE, national workshops offer participants training for planning and implementing projects, programs, and policies with a gender equity perspective. In this event, the training will be conducted by OTCA’s gender equity project specialist, Sara Gómez Rivera.