SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 2003In 2002, MRC and WWF signed a memorandumof understanding that allows the twoorganisations to work together in areas ofcommon interest that include: promotion of theMekong’s natural richness rather than just itsshort-term economic potential; sustainableagricultural practices; conservation of threatenedspecies; sustainable watershed management;sustainable use of natural resources; promotionof wetland conservation and restoration;consideration and promotion of renewableenergies and energy conservation; anddevelopment that meets the needs of the peoplebut at the same time ensures the long-termsustainability of the river and its relatedresources. 13Oxfam works with local partners in more than100 countries to achieve greater impact inaddressing issues of poverty and related injusticearound the world. Projects focus on humanitarian relief, community-driven development and socialjustice. In the Mekong Basin, the Oxfam Mekong Initiative (OMI) 14 works in all six Mekongcountries on four thematic issues: trade, poverty reduction, infrastructure, and capacity building. Ata time of rapid development with transboundary impacts, OMI works with local-level NGOs toensure that people have a voice in planning, managing and monitoring what happens to their resourcesand their communities.The initiatives of all the agencies just described arestrengthening the capacity of governments, civil societygroups and other key stakeholders to work together ata regional level in finding solutions to basin-wide andtransboundary environmental problems and continuingthis collaboration for the long term.IUCN, WWF and Oxfam are all working at thecommunity level to ensure that local people areinvolved in planning resource developmentThere are still very few bridgesacross the Mekong290