Cambodia: Bun and Vantha (both 60s) are part of an Aquaponics pilot project in their village. The pilot gives local villagers the opportunity to grow vegetables in a climate resilient way that can then be used to support their household expenses. Photo: Patrick Moran/Oxfam. Oxfam acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Donate to support the Mekong River region
The Mekong River is one of the world’s great lifelines. It flows through six countries, supporting food systems and daily life for millions of people who depend on its waters, floodplains and fisheries.
Now, that shared system is under growing pressure. Rapid development is underway. Large-scale infrastructure and hydropower projects are dramatically reshaping the region.
Decisions made upstream can determine whether families downstream have food, income and clean water.
Climate change intensifies these pressures. Rainfall patterns are less predictable and both droughts and floods more frequent. Even small shifts can disrupt farming, fishing and daily survival.
Communities aren’t standing by passively. People are organising, advocating and demanding a say in decisions that affect their lives and futures. Especially women.
When you donate to support the Mekong River region, you’re strengthening the influence of these communities in decisions that shape the river’s future. Your support strengthens women’s participation, amplifies civil society voices in water and energy planning, and helps ensure development is fair and inclusive — guided by lived experience.
Why your support matters in the Mekong region
The Mekong River system fundamentally shapes life across Southeast Asia. Seasonal flows determine when rice is planted, when fish migrate (and where to), and when families can earn an income from farming, fishing and river-based trade.
These systems are becoming harder to rely on. Hydropower dams and water infrastructure can alter river levels, sediment flows and fish migration routes. At the same time, climate change is increasing the risk of droughts, flash flooding and extreme heat. Together, these pressures have created unpredictable farming seasons and fragile livelihoods.
Power and inequality shape how these impacts are felt. Women often carry a greater share of unpaid labour and have less influence over development decisions. River-dependent and rural communities are frequently excluded from planning processes — even when projects directly affect their land, water and food systems.
Still, communities across the Mekong region continue to lead, negotiate and strengthen their influence. Women’s groups and local organisations monitor changes in the environment, share information and push for fairer development outcomes
When you support Oxfam’s work in the Mekong region, you help strengthen this collective leadership. You stand with people who are already reshaping development decisions into something fairer and more sustainable.
How Oxfam is working in the Mekong region
Supporting inclusive decision-making about water and land
Through the Mekong Inclusion Project, Oxfam works with local partners right across the Mekong region with one major goal: to ensure the people most affected by planning decisions can participate in the process and influence outcomes.
Our focus is on inclusion. Women and river-dependent communities are routinely excluded from discussions about water, land and natural resource management. With your support, this is changing. The project strengthens their ability to influence policy and development decisions.
The Mekong Inclusion Project is supported by the Australian Government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
Strengthening women’s leadership and participation
Women have historically been excluded from governance and planning in the Mekong region. Changing this is a major focus of the Inclusion Project. Working alongside experienced local partners, Oxfam supports women to take part in community planning, local governance and regional advocacy.
Partners work to improve women’s access to information and create leadership pathways so they can influence local and regional planning decisions — decisions that affect livelihoods, food systems and long-term resilience across the river basin.
Influencing a just and people-centred energy transition
The Mekong region is part of a regional shift toward more sustainable and affordable energy — a transition that can powerfully reduce the impacts of climate change.
Through the ANCP-supported Influencing Just Energy Transition (I-JET) program, Oxfam helps civil society engage in ASEAN regional energy discussions. We support local communities with analysis to share with policymakers, investors and multilateral banks. The aim: a transition that both protects communities and is guided by them, to increase local access to affordable, renewable energy.
Working alongside regional and local partners
All of Oxfam’s work in the Mekong region is carried out through partnerships. Local organisations and networks lead the work, drawing on deep local knowledge and lived experience. Oxfam’s role is to strengthen their influence — supporting long-term, regionally connected advocacy for climate justice, gender justice and economic fairness.
Oxfam acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
Key focus areas
Gender Justice
Supporting women to take part in local decisions and influence development that affects their lives.
Climate Justice
Helping communities adapt to changing weather patterns and shifting river systems.
Economic justice
Backing fair livelihood opportunities for farming and river-dependent families.
Community-led natural resource governance
Ensuring people can participate in decisions about land, water and forests across the Mekong region.
Why choose Oxfam
We work alongside local leaders and organisations who understand the challenges and the solutions. When you support Oxfam with a donation for the Mekong region, you’re backing:
Local partnerships
Every program is grounded in community knowledge and led by local organisations.
Long-term resilience
From climate advocacy to disaster preparation, we focus on lasting impact (not just emergency relief).
Proven accountability
As a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), Oxfam follows the highest standards of transparency and effectiveness.
A regional approach
Our work in Cambodia is part of a wider strategy, ensuring solutions are shared, connected and led by the Mekong region itself.
Justice over charity
We support communities to lead their own future. It’s not about charity. It’s about fairness, dignity and equal rights.
How your donation helps
Every donation to Oxfam supports community-led work across the Mekong region. Your contribution strengthens local leadership and ensures development is more just, inclusive and grounded in lived experience. Here’s what your support can help make possible:
- Women’s leadership — supporting women to take part in village planning and influence decisions that affect land, water and livelihoods.
- Climate adaptation — helping communities understand shifting weather patterns and respond to changes affecting farming, fishing and daily income.
- Participation in water and land decisions — ensuring river-dependent families and civil society groups can join discussions about development projects that affect them.
- Fairer energy transitions — backing civil society organisations with analysis and tools to engage in ASEAN energy planning and advocate for more sustainable, people-centred energy systems.
- Stronger community networks — supporting local groups working together to protect rights, share information and advocate for safer, more secure livelihoods.
Your donation is more than a moment of support. It strengthens long-term, locally led work for justice, climate resilience and community rights across the Mekong River region.
Donate to the Mekong River region now
Help us work for justice and equality across the Mekong. Every contribution helps strengthen local voices in development decisions, support women’s participation in community planning, and build long-term resilience in the face of rapid environmental and economic change.
Donate now to support climate justice and fair development in the Mekong region.
Learn more about Oxfam’s work in the region
Want to understand the bigger picture? Explore how Oxfam works across the Asia-Pacific region to support community-led climate action and push for global systems that put justice first.
Discover Oxfam’s climate justice work. Or read about gender equality. You can explore our current appeals or learn more about how we work in Laos, Myanmar and Fiji.
Oxfam's partners
(CAM) 3S Rivers Protection Network (Sesan, Srepok and Sekong rivers), (CAM) Bophana Centre, (CAM) Culture and Environment Preservation Association, (CAM) Energy Lab, (CAM) Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT), (CAM) Men's Health Social Service, (CAM) My Village Organization (MVi), (CAM) NGOF on Cambodia - Rivers Coalition in Cambodia (RCC), (CAM) Women Voice Community (radio), (CAM) Women with Disability Leadership and Advocacy Network, (LAO) Department of Water Resources, (LAO) Faculty of Water Resources, (LAO) Gender and Development Association, (LAO) Green Community Alliance, (LAO) Land Learning Initiative for Food Security Enhancement project, (LAO) Lao Disabled People's Association (LDPA), (LAO) Lao Natural Resources and River Network (LAO) Lao Women's Union (LWU), (LAO) Souphanouvong University, (MMR) Karen Environmental & Social Action Network (KESAN), (MMR) Kyun Ta Htaung Myae Foundation, (MMR) Save the Salween Network, (MYS) International Womens' Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, (THA) Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), (THA) Human Rights and Environment Association, (THA) Living River Siam Association, (THA) Regional Centre for Social Science & Sustainable Dev., Chiang Mai Uni, (THA) TMP System, (VNM) Center for Social Research and Development (CSRD), (VNM) Centre for Sustainable Dev. of Water Resources and Adapt. to Climate Ch. , (VNM) DRAGON Institute, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development, Earth Journalism Network, International Rivers, Oxfam Great Britain (OGB), Oxfam in Cambodia, Oxfam in Laos, Oxfam in Myanmar, Oxfam in Vietnam, Oxfam Novib (ONL), Save the Mekong Coalition (StM) via International Rivers
Cambodia: Bun and Vantha (both 60s) are part of an Aquaponics pilot project in their village. The pilot gives local villagers the opportunity to grow vegetables in a climate resilient way that can then be used to support their household expenses. Photo: Patrick Moran/Oxfam. Oxfam acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Donate to support projects along the Mekong and beyond
Oxfam works with communities in the Mekong Region and around the world to tackle the inequalities that fuel poverty. You can join us.