Bouman-Dentener, A.M. (2016). The GWP Gender Strategy: Working on the Interface of Women and Water. Solutions 7(6): 32-37. https://thesolutionsjournal.com/article/the-gwp-gender-strategy-working-on-the-interface-of-women-and-water/
Perspectives The GWP Gender Strategy: Working on the Interface of Women and Water by Alice M. Bouman-Dentener
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he Global Water Partnership (GWP) was established in 1996 to contribute to Integrated Water resources Management (IWRM) as a foundation for sustainable development. Social equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of GWP and considered indispensable for the sustainable use and management of water resources. The GWP developed its Gender Strategy in 2014 as a supplement to the overall strategy towards 2020 to address its role in advancing gender sensitive and women-inclusive water governance and management at all levels.1 The GWP gender strategy zooms in on the water and gender interface.
Why Work on the Water and Gender Interface? Water is in everything. It is not only needed for drinking, growing food, and personal hygiene but also for industrial processes and energy provision. Nature equally depends on water, and we, in turn, depend on healthy ecosystems for our survival and well-being. Being able to access sufficient and safe water to perform daily functions is key in overcoming poverty and building sustainable livelihoods. Today’s reality however, is that millions of people do not have this basic security. While statistics showing how this affects men and women differently are limited, it is easy to see that women and girls in the developing world are disproportionately affected and often literally carry the burden of daily water provision. Gender equality, like access to water and sanitation, is considered key for the development of a healthy and prosperous society. Gender
equality is not only about equal access to resources, but it also means women should have an equal voice in decision-making and that they fully take part in all sectors and spheres of society. Centering gender equality and women’s empowerment in the achievement of sustainable development has therefore been a recurrent theme in international development policies.
cooperation inclusively between sectors and transnationally.3 Despite such longstanding international agreements and calls for action, the gender and water agenda still lacks traction. There are pockets of success, such as the increased involvement of women’s civil society in water resources development and management through the Women for Water Partnership,4 the pan-African
Women-to-women networking on water-related development issues has furthermore resulted in many community-based and women-led projects that show a high degree of sustainability. A good 20 years have passed since the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 adopted the Beijing Platform for Action. This was a global agenda to empower women and ensure their contribution to sustainable development, including to the management and safeguarding of water resources. In terms of water more specifically, the central role of women in the provision, management, and safeguarding of water and their full participation as a stakeholder is prominently included in the Dublin Principles for Integrated Water Resources Management of 1992.2 Women’s involvement in water-related development efforts was also specifically called for in the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005–2015, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly to establish water
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gender strategy and policy of the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) that guides the work of the African Union members to mainstream gender in water policies and practice,5 and the work of the International Fund for Agricultural Development on women’s access to land and water and their participation in rural development projects.6 On the whole, however, under the Millennium Development Goal agenda of the past 15 years, emphasis has been on technical service provision; social equity and women’s inclusion as underlying principles for the sustainable use and management of water resources have not been addressed in a systematic way. A shift in perspective to an inclusive, gender-sensitive approach to water is required, which the GWP aims to support.