ERI opened its inaugural EarthRights School-Mekong program in June 2006, drawing from the success of the EarthRights School- Burma model. The program created a cohesive group of activists from each of the Mekong countries who have the intercultural skills, substantive knowledge and experience to voice their individual and collective concerns about Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded hydroelectric projects, and related human rights, transparency and participation issues, within the Greater Mekong Sub region (GMS). Graduates of the program will form a strong network of community advocates who, acting together, can effectively campaign on behalf of affected communities who are currently underrepresented and often excluded from decision making that impacts their rights and livelihoods.
Every two years the EarthRights School-Mekong aims bring together 12 students (two students from each GMS country: Yunnan/China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam) in a four-month intensive residential learning program in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Between the first three months of instruction and the second session of group work, students will return to their home countries to undertake fact-finding and documentation work on key projects. The second session has less focus on instruction, but more on guided campaign/advocacy planning. Each year the school will focus on a specific area of campaigning/advocacy occurring around Mekong region development issues. In its inaugural year, the course focuses on hydro-development and water issues and the ADB.
Alumni of the Mekong School are supported in undertaking their grassroots work through the
activities of the Mekong Alumni Program. The alumni program seeks to maximize
the impact of their work by providing ongoing structured opportunities
for graduates to network, collaborate, exchange information and
resources, and receive training and technical assistance. For more information, please see http://mekongalumni.net.
On
March 11-12 of 2009, EarthRights Mekong School staff and alumni from Thailand and Burma
joined local and regional NGOs on a trip to Chiang Khong, where the Mekong River
forms the border between Thailand’s
Chiang Rai province and Lao PDR’s Bo Kaew province. Over 50 youth joined in activities in
commemoration of the International Day of Action for Rivers. Group members meet with civil society groups
on both the Thai and Lao sides of the river, and discussed changes resulting
from increased globalization in the region. These changes include blasting the river to widen navigation channels
for Chinese ships, a new highway linking China,
Laos, and Thailand, an
influx of Chinese produce and consumer goods, and an increase in illegal
drugs.
Alumni of the EarthRights Mekong School have gone on to use regional media outlets to raise awareness for a range of earth rights issues: from river ecology and sustainable microhydro power stations to conservation efforts of the pagoda bats.
From November 11-13, Mekong School students, alumni, and staff attended
an international conference, Mekong Mainstream Dams: People's
Voices across Borders, at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. The
conference provided an opportunity for citizens as well as national and
regional policymakers to exchange views regarding the problems of hydropower dams in Southeast Asia, particularly those on
the mainstream Mekong River. Over 250 conference participants worked together
to promote a greater role for civil society in developing energy alternatives.
