Water Forum

A space for deliberation among multiple interests and many actors concerned with the challenge of ensuring water security in the future for the people of Northern Province. The province-wide Water Forum is made up of Water Platforms which are the grassroots level functioning groups at the Divisional level. Platforms and the Forum function mainly in the form of organized face-to-face meetings as well as virtual events and in digital meeting rooms. In all different modes, these will be spaces for facilitated communication as well as for participatory decision-making and local level actions around relevant water issues.

There are three DS divisions (Nallur, Kopay and Akkarayan) selected to pilot the water platform activities. The following stakeholders were involved in the series of discussion sessions conducted in both Nallur and Kopay Division.

• Community: NGOs, Young Water Professionals, Media Personnel, Community Centers, Women Groups, Farmers, Fisherman Association, Water enthusiasts, Elder’s club
• Water management institutions: Departments, Boards, Technical specialists, Engineers, Health
• Government Representatives: Divisional Secretariat, Predesha saba, Grama Niladhari, Elected members of local govt
• School and Education Sector: Teachers, Students, Lecturers, Researchers, Retired academics
• Water Users: Hotel, Tourism, Markets, Hospitals, Garages, Food sector, Small enterprises, Water filtering business