Check out Photos and Videos of the International Day of Action for Rivers 2009

Rally in front of the presidential palace in Chile

With numerous events around the world and new participants in countries such as Iran and Jordan, this year's International Day of Action for Rivers has seen the most actions ever! From celebrations to protests, we have heard of about 116 actions in 29 different countries.

Along with beautiful pictures of the actions, we have received videos of events in Mozambique, Spain, Mexico, India and Brazil.

A few events:

Over 300 Thai-Karen ethnic villagers that would be affected by the Hut-Gyi Dam on the Salween River organized a Buddhist ceremony at the riverbank of the Salween at the Thai-Burma border.

Villagers affected by dam construction called on the government of Thailand to stop building dams, petitioning for an end to dam construction on the Mekong and Salween rivers. The largest of the protests was in Uban Ratchathani at the Pak Munn Dam, where over 500 villagers were blocked by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and forced to read their statement at the gate. In addition to calling for an end to dam construction, the villagers demanded compensation for dam-affected villagers, repair of ecological systems damaged by construction and allocation of land to farmers whose land had been flooded by reservoirs.

Indonesia- villagers are trained on monitering water quality

An event was held to train the people of the six villages around the Siak River to monitor the water quality of the Siak River. The training also aimed to increase people's awareness about pollution of the river and to encourage them to take action against river pollution.

Activists held a media briefing and a demonstration in Kenya against the Gibe III Dam of Ethiopia.

People and organizations from all over Chile gathered in Santiago in front of La Mondeda, the presidential palace, in order to protest the multitude of giant hydroelectric projects being proposed on rivers throughout the country.

For more information, check out our actions by region and photo gallery.