Mekong River Commission (MRC)

Project description

Title: Mekong River Commission (MRC) – cooperation programme
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Viet Nam
Lead executing agency: Mekong River Commission (MRC)
Overall term: 2010 to 2017

Context

The Lower Mekong Basin is crucial to the livelihood of its more than 60 million inhabitants. More than two thirds of the population live directly from agriculture and fisheries, rendering them wholly dependent on the Mekong’s water resources. The river is of vital economic significance, especially for people living directly on its banks, as in many cases it secures their food base. Furthermore, with its potentials for transport, tourism and energy, the river forms the basis for socioeconomic development in all riparian states.

At the same time, the Mekong Basin is faced with numerous challenges threatening the sustainable development of the region. Population growth and the subsequent increasing pressure on the river’s resources – especially the ongoing expansion of hydropower, intensified agriculture and extraction of mineral resources – pose an increasing threat to the Mekong. Moreover, climate change impacts have made the Mekong region one of the most vulnerable to and affected by climate change in the world. Already today, the regular occurrence of floods has drastically increased the vulnerability of the population living along the river, and this will only get worse.

In order to jointly address the sustainable development problems in the Lower Mekong Basin, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam established the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in 1995. The Commission has made a great contribution to improving sustainable water resource management over the past decades. In the face of intensifying and newly emerging challenges, the abilities of the MRC are constantly being called into question. Can it effectively and competently address the core problems in the river basin, especially with regard to climate change and hydropower development?

Objective

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is effectively and competently supporting its Member States in sustainably tackling the challenges in the river basin.

Approach

GIZ is supporting the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in its work in poverty-alleviating and environmentally friendly development of hydropower, as well as in protecting the population from the negative impacts of climate change in the Lower Mekong Basin. GIZ is directly supporting experts and managers from the MRC Secretariat, the National Mekong Committees and the ministries for water, energy and environment in the member countries. The programme is primarily working to achieve long-term, sustainable improvement to the life situations of the more than 60 million people in the Lower Mekong Basin.

This programme comprises the following components

    Further information


    Contact


    Philipp Magiera
    Email: philipp.magiera@giz.de