The large river basins of continental Southeast Asia shared by numerous nationalities and ethnic groups. The Mekong Basin alone spans six countries: Cambodia; China; Laos; Myanmar; Thailand; and Vietnam. Coordinating the development of these rivers is enormously difficult and fraught with disagreement, not only between nations, but also between sectors. With massive investment and rapid development of the region, communication, coordination, and mutual understanding is very important for maintaining ecosystems and livelihood activities that are equitable and sustainable.

The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) in the Greater Mekong has research projects in four major transboundary river basins: the Mekong; the Irrawaddy; the Red; and the Salween. Working through partnerships with local and international organizations on the challenges that face the region, the program sees a need for dialogue spaces where people from all regional countries and all backgrounds can discuss these challenges.

As such, it has planned – in collaboration with regional partners and government ministries – the Greater Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy as an annual event. It is the largest event of its kind in the Mekong Region focuses on regional knowledge-sharing, improving water-related discussions between stakeholders with differing interests, and interfacing innovative evidenced based solutions with non-technical participants from all sectors.  The forum is also meant to be a safe space where difficult and controversial water-related topics can be discussed in a non-judgmental and informal way.

“This is not a research conference,” says Focal Region leader, Kim Geheb. “The forum is designed for knowledge users: government and development agencies, the private sector and research-for-development practitioners. We emphasize deliberation and listening, query and debate.”

In 2015, the forum was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and was attended by 306 participants, representing 139 institutions. Of the institutions that participated, 13% were Cambodian, 9% Chinese, 13% Lao, 17% Myanmar, 13% Thai, 17% Vietnamese and 19% international; 20% were regional universities, 13% were regional NGOs, 12% were international NGOs, 10% were international universities, 9% were regional government, 7% were international research agencies, and the remainder other types of agencies (including 3% who were private sector, and 4% international government).