Water security and climate resilience in Asia advance through climate-resilient irrigation, rainwater harvesting, and watershed protection projects reaching over one million people across Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, and Bhutan.
Climate change rapidly reshapes Asia’s water cycle through rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, intensifying floods, and rising sea levels, disrupting the sources communities relied on for generations. Hundreds of millions of people across Asia face expected problems with water security and climate resilience in the coming decades, with rural agricultural communities experiencing immediate consequences as crops fail, rivers run dry, and drinking water becomes scarce or contaminated.
Water insecurity aggravates structural gender inequalities. Women and girls bear primary responsibility for collecting water for cooking, washing, and farming in many communities. When sources become distant or unreliable, daily collection tasks consume hours, reducing time for school, income generation, or community participation while exposing women to health risks and physical strain.
Water security and climate resilience are inseparable from gender equality, as unreliable water sources force women and girls to spend hours on daily collection tasks, cutting into time for education, economic opportunity, and community life. Photo courtesy of UNDP Bhutan.
Governments increasingly emphasize water in National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions, investing in climate-resilient water systems. Green Climate Fund and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-backed initiatives help communities capture rainwater, modernize irrigation, and protect watersheds, ensuring water continues to sustain lives and livelihoods amid climate change.
Bangladesh’s southwest coast faces increasing freshwater scarcity as rising sea levels and stronger cyclones push saltwater into rivers, ponds, and groundwater, contaminating traditional drinking water sources. The Government of Bangladesh, with Green Climate Fund and UNDP support, implements projects that strengthen the resilience of climate-vulnerable coastal communities, particularly women, through integrated livelihood diversification, water security, and institutional capacity-building, reaching almost one million people in seven years, over half of whom are women.
Central efforts expanded access to climate-resilient drinking water systems designed to withstand salinity and climate shocks. In 2025, more than 13,400 rainwater harvesting systems provided year-round safe drinking water to tens of thousands, where freshwater sources have become increasingly unreliable. Twenty-five pond-based ultra-filtration systems installed provide safe drinking water access to approximately 5,000 households through multi-stage filtration, removing pathogens, solids, and contaminants. Solar-powered systems feature elevated platforms, protective housing, and flood-resilient structures withstanding extreme weather.
Women play leading roles in managing rainwater harvesting systems. Trained volunteers known as Paani Apas or water sisters monitor water points, promote safe water use, and support households adapting to salinity and climate risks. Water management committees, mostly run by women and comprising 85% of members, ensure systems remain functional and locally managed, strengthening women’s leadership in water management while also securing safe water.
In Suco Fatulia, a farming community in Timor-Leste’s rural highlands, agriculture depended heavily on rainfall and remained highly vulnerable to climate variability. The Government of Timor-Leste, with support from the Green Climate Fund and UNDP, rehabilitated a 450-meter irrigation channel in 2023, including a new intake structure, water control gates, 415 meters of stone masonry lining, and slope-stabilization works using gabion walls to protect against erosion. Nature-based solutions included planting more than 18,600 trees across 20+ hectares of farmland, stabilizing soils, and protecting water sources.
More than 1,000 people across three communities now use the irrigation system, transforming seasonal farming into stable, predictable livelihoods. Reliable irrigation enables farmers to grow rice alongside maize and vegetables and cultivate crops beyond the main rainy season. The system reduced labor required to collect and transport water, easing daily burdens for women and girls who previously walked long distances to fetch water. Farmers now rely on controlled irrigation channels that distribute water efficiently rather than carrying it manually over long distances.
Beneficiaries used irrigation water to plant fruit and timber trees through agroforestry initiatives, creating backyard nurseries providing sustainable food and income sources. Tree planting and soil-bioengineering measures reduce erosion, improve groundwater recharge, and strengthen watershed resilience. For Fatulia families, reliable water transformed farming from a gamble with the weather into a livelihood that supported planning.
Bhutan’s mountain valleys experienced disrupted monsoon cycles as climate change altered predictable rainfall patterns. Women faced particular impacts due to their central roles in agriculture, combined with their primary responsibility for collecting water and managing household needs. In Wangdue Phodrang district, water scarcity shaped daily life for years as drying springs and limited irrigation left farmland abandoned.
To promote water security and climate resilience in the country, the Royal Government of Bhutan, with support from the Green Climate Fund and UNDP, launched projects to enhance smallholder farm resilience to climate change, particularly rainfall variability and extreme events. Over six years, initiatives worked across eight climate-vulnerable districts, strengthening water security by expanding irrigation access. Thirty-six irrigation schemes and one solar-powered lift irrigation system were constructed or rehabilitated, bringing water to 6,366 hectares of farmland, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers.
Timor-Leste rehabilitated a 450-meter irrigation channel serving 1,000+ people across three communities, while Bhutan constructed 36 irrigation schemes benefiting 31,000 farmers across 6,366 hectares, transforming seasonal farming into stable livelihoods through water security and climate resilience in Asia infrastructure investments. Photo courtesy of UNDP Bhutan.
Projects supported communities restoring soils and stabilizing slopes through sustainable land management practices, protecting over 5,000 hectares from erosion and climate-driven land degradation. Women participated centrally through dozens of water user associations established to manage irrigation systems and coordinate water distribution. Improved irrigation reduced the physical burdens of maintaining traditional channels, freeing time for women farmers while improving agricultural productivity.
Water security and climate resilience, based on experiences from these three countries, demonstrate that strengthening water security is among the most powerful approaches to climate adaptation. Investments in climate-resilient irrigation, rainwater harvesting, and watershed protection help farmers stabilize harvests, safeguard drinking water, and reduce the hours women and girls spend collecting it, unlocking opportunities for farmers, families, and entire communities.
As climate impacts intensify, water security and climate resilience in Asia prove essential not only for protecting livelihoods today but ensuring rural communities prosper in the decades ahead.
