Poverty, Water and Development in the South

Over the last decades, multilateral institutions, development agencies and states have promoted and strengthened a conventional view of the relationship(s) between poverty, water and development. The fight against poverty is usually undertaken by the mere provision of water to the poor in order to meet their basic needs. Such a restricted approach has proved to be inadequate in preventing the production and reproduction of poverty through generations.

Brazil workshop 2015 - poster

Water allocation practices are becoming increasingly inequitable, inefficient and unsustainable. As water is perceived as a scarce natural asset, "More Value per Drop" has become the new credo for the commodification of a natural common good. As a result, water governance institutions are tacitly discriminating against poor households and communities that rely on values that go beyond the rules of the marketplace.

In order to contribute to a socially equitable and sustainable development, this conventional view of the water-poverty-development nexus needs to be scientifically challenged and superseded in the light of state of the art theoretical and empirical research. Furthering this paradigm shift, we invite scholars to contribute with multidisciplinary and critical papers on the relationship between water, poverty and development in the 21st century.

This workshop will focus on, but not be limited to, questions such as:

• How are water and development issues linked to anti-poverty policies and strategies? What are the conceptions of poverty underpinning pro-poor water policies? Are public investments promoting water justice?
• What are the processes and mechanisms that make water play a key role in the development of poor communities? How do water appropriation, management and use contribute to explaining and/or unveiling asymmetric power distribution, inequities and poverty?
• How are water-related conflicts and rights addressed at an institutional level, locally and/or nationally?
• Are energy-related infrastructure investments designed and implemented without taking into account their impact on water resources and the needs-vulnerable sectors? Are current water policies actually promoting equitable and sustainable development?
• What is the achievement and relevance of local water policies with respect to the Millennium Development Goals and their successors (SDGs)?

For Reference: Call for Papers Brazil workshop 2015