Specification 

Description

• Myriad complexities: Sheer size of the basin presents a barrier to cohesive governance, compounded by the complexities of gender, poverty, social inequity, Climate change, etc. 
• Fragmented governance: Lack of multilateral agreement enabling basinwide collaboration while bilateral agreements are focused on infrastructure projects and short-term goals. 
• Substantial data gaps: This gap is more prominent for experiences of different genders, indigenous communities, underprivileged, etc. 

Opportunities 

• Climate change represents a unifying catalyst for collaboration across the basin. 
• Existing bilateral agreements contain references to, or acknowledgement of, basin-scale issues and solutions. 
  • For example, Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development (of 2011)  between India and Bangladesh has references to basin-scale issues such as climate change, and energy. 

• Delinking of key issues in the basin from the basin-wide political system. 
• Expand existing bilateral agreements to stimulate multilateral cooperation.
• Support the expansion of research and data collection and sharing.
• Strengthen the capacity of community groups to enhance local collaboration.