International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance
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- Federating the RWH movement
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- World Water Week 2007
- RWH in East Timor
- World Water Forum - Mexico 2006
- World Water Forum FAME 2005
- Participation in CDS 13 in New York
- European Solidarity Week for Water - October 2005
- SEARNET annual meeting in Kigali, Rwanda 2005
- Gaborone, Botswana 2004 & Arusha, Tanzania - 2003
- Pan-African Water Conference, Addis Ababa - December 2003
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Rainwater Belongs to You!
International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA)
Empowering Rainwater Harvesting Movement
The International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) was created in Geneva in November 2002 following recomendations formulated during the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg two months earlier. The mandate consisted federating and unifying the disparate rainwater harvesting (RWH) movements around the world, to promote rainwater as a valuable water resource and to build on achievements in this field for the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals.
In partnership with the most eminent organisations and individuals in the field, the IRHA provides a lobbying and advocacy platform for RWH.
It supports the growth of RWH solutions to water supply problems by providing a forum for its members to work together or share experiences for their mutual benefit, and thus for the benefit of people living with water scarcity.
IRHA Vision and Mission
IRHA’s vision is a large use of rainwater in every field of life.
IRHA’s mission is to promote Rainwater Harvesting as a tool for climate changes adaptation and as a water resource which should be treated in the framework of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
IRHA promotes the use and management of rainwater as part of:
- Soil and water conservation for food security and food sovereignty
- Climate changes adaptation policy
- Risks reduction and disasters mitigation policy
- Watershed & community development
- Ecosystem conservation and aquifer recharge
- Household and productive use
- Hygiene and sanitation improvement policies
These strategies the IRHA Secretariat implements through four activities:
IRHA OBJECTIVES
IRHA will focus on the promotion of community-based rainwater harvesting initiatives:
- To promote Rainwater Harvesting and management as a strategic and sustainable way of achieving the Millennium Development Goal for freshwater.
- To position RWH as a powerful tool for climate changes adaptation.
- To create synergies between the major stakeholders in the RWH sector and to influence policy at all levels: international, regional, national and local.
- To build knowledge on all aspects of RWH systems, approaches and other alternative technologies for freshwater augmentation.
- To promote RWH as a sustainable way of providing community access to safe water, thereby improving livelihoods and ecosystem conservation.
- To facilitate networking and information exchange in all aspects of RWH and management, enhancing South-South and North-South collaboration.
- To promote a representative approach clearly focused on gender equity.
- To implement direct action programmes in the context of IWRM.