An Australian government initiative supporting water, food and energy security in South Asia. Find out more:

About SDIP

Our work with key agencies and educational institutions in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh built capacity and tools to support the individual water reform journeys in these countries.

Research

Our work helped to build capacity and tools to support the water reform journeys of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, with inclusion of climate change and gender considerations.

Bangladesh

Researchers and policy makers from Bangladesh and Australia are working to understand the sustainable level of water use, particularly groundwater use, for irrigation in the northwest region of Bangladesh.

India

We worked with government and water managers in India to identify key future challenges and opportunities for water – its use, planning and management – in the Brahmani Baitarni Basin.

Nepal

Working together, the Nepal and Australian governments built capacity in strategic river basin planning through the Kamala River Basin Initiative in the south-east of Nepal. Knowledge, tools and experience from this project can be used in basin planning across Nepal.

Pakistan

We worked with Pakistan government agencies to implement Australian water resource management technologies, and built local capacity in integrated water resources management and impact assessment. This work supported a more productive and water secure Pakistan.

Gender

A key challenge for gender integration within the areas of water science and water governance is the lack of gender balance in institutions. We worked with partners in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh to increase diversity (with emphasis on women, as well as early to mid-career staff).

Climate change

An understanding of likely future climate is critical to river basin planning and management in South Asia. This is vital as climate change will impact water and related sectors.

Achievements

Achievements in SDIP centred around three themes: knowledge and practice, capacity development and creating an enabling environment.

Publications

A wide range of journal papers, reports and fact sheets are available to explore our work on water, climate, gender, livelihoods and ecology across South Asia.