Affected People

Ibaloi Women (Toots S., Philipine Daily Inquirer)

Large dams have forced some 40-80 million people from their lands in the past six decades, according to the World Commission on Dams. Indigenous, tribal, and peasant communities have been particularly hard hit. These legions of dam refugees have, in the great majority of cases, been economically, culturally and psychologically devastated.

Those displaced by reservoirs are only the most visible victims of large dams. Millions more have lost land and homes to the canals, irrigation schemes, roads, power lines and industrial developments that accompany dams. Many more have lost access to clean water, food sources and other natural resources in the dammed area. Millions have suffered from the diseases that dams and large irrigation projects in the tropics bring.

Networks have been fostered in response to the massive human rights problems and environmental impacts of large dams, to fight for change in current dam-building practices. In addition to directly affected people’s groups, the movement includes thousands of environmental, human rights, and social activist groups around the world. International dam-affected people’s meetings in Brazil and Thailand in recent years have brought together dam-affected peoples and their allies to network and strategize, and call for better planning of water- and energy-supply projects. And every year, groups from around the world show their solidarity with those dispossessed by dams on the International Day of Action for Rivers, a global event to raise awareness about the impacts of dams and the values of undammed rivers.

The mission of International Rivers’s regional campaign work is to focus on the issues of dam-affected peoples. To learn more about dam-affected peoples by region, visit our regional campaign pages.