Participants hear preserntations about water sustainablity at the meeting. — Photos courtesy of the IUCN

SIEM RIEP — An annual stocktaking meeting for the project on enhancing sustainability of the Việt Nam-Cambodia transboundary Mekong River Delta Aquifer took place on Wednesday in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The meeting was held by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in cooperation with General Department of Environmental Protection (GDEP) under the Cambodia's Ministry of Environment (MOE), and Department of Water Resources Management (DWRM) under the Việt Nam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE).

Its aim was to convene ministerial and regional stakeholders to foster engagement, forge partnerships, gather new perspectives, inform wider stakeholders about project endeavours and benefits, and explain how stakeholders can engage with activities.

The project has conducted several important insights, including a gender-disaggregated survey of over 5,000 households, providing comprehensive data on groundwater use across the Cambodia-Mekong Delta aquifer, according to the organisers.

This is considered one of the most up-to-date and comprehensive datasets currently available to support aquifer management in the region, the organisers said.

Dr Andrew Wyatt, IUCN Deputy Head of the Lower Mekong Subregion said: “This project represents the first major groundwater initiative to address the interdependencies between the Mekong Delta’s ecosystems and the transboundary aquifer.

"It will generate critical knowledge on these linkages and support the development of joint strategies, including a Strategic Action Programme (SAP), to address the long-term sustainability challenges of the Mekong River Delta."

To support joint decision-making, the project has established a Joint Technical Committee and an InterMinisterial Committee (IMC), bringing together key institutions from both countries.

These joint institutions will guide the development of the SAP and support the establishment of a long-term transboundary cooperation and coordination mechanism.

Posters about water sustainability are displayed at the meeting.

This event also marked the first joint meeting of the two IMCs, followed by the First Visioning Workshop.

The transboundary aquifer in the Cambodia-Mekong River Delta Aquifer faces a range of transboundary challenges, including reduced groundwater recharge due to land-use change, over-extraction, agricultural pollution, salinity intrusion and land subsidence.

Addressing these challenges requires coordinated action across borders.

In line with the spirit of World Water Day, the project also promotes inclusive approaches to water management, ensuring that women, youth, and other marginalised groups are actively engaged and benefit from its outcomes.

The project is Southeast Asia's largest transboundary aquifer initiative under the Global Environment Facility International Waters focal area, implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Governments of Cambodia and Việt Nam who are represented respectively by GDEP/MOE and DWRM/MAE.

IUCN serves as the lead executing agency, with UNESCO and the Mekong Region Futures Institute co-executing partners.

The five-year project (2023-2028) is designed to ensure sustainable groundwater management across the shared aquifer system of Cambodia and Việt Nam.

The project aims to enhance environmental sustainability and water security in the lower Mekong basin by focusing on improved governance and the sustainable utilisation of the Cambodia-Mekong River Delta transboundary aquifer.

Dr Waleed Abouelhassan, Land and Water Officer at FAO, said: “This project plays a critical role in advancing sustainable groundwater management in both Cambodia and Việt Nam, supporting efforts to protect vital water resources for communities, agriculture and ecosystems.

"The annual stocktaking meeting is an important opportunity to strengthen cooperation, align priorities, and advance actions that will guide the long-term management of the shared aquifer.”

The meeting was held in connection with World Water Day 2026 (March 22), themed 'Water and Gender Equality' under the slogan 'Where water flows, equality grows'.

This global observance highlights the importance of equitable access to water and sanitation as a foundation for reducing gender inequalities and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6 on clean water and sanitation and SDG 5 on gender equality.

A dedicated session explored how the project was advancing gender considerations in groundwater management and will share early findings on gender wider social inclusion from household surveys.

Additional discussions also took place to cover partner initiatives in groundwater governance and transboundary coordination and cooperation agreements.

The meeting brought together stakeholders from both countries, including government and provincial agencies, research institutions, academia, international organisations, local NGOs, regional stakeholders, technical partners and the media.

The outcomes are expected to contribute to gender and civil society considerations, while also strengthening transboundary coordination and cooperation agreements in the Cambodia–Việt Nam's Mekong River Delta region. — VNS