Gender issues in water resources management

. . .towards a vision of Equity and Sustainability

Water has become a strategic resource. . .

• Its control is a source of power • A key to economic development and • A trigger to socio-political stress Improved management of water is imperative to sustainable development,poverty alleviation and biodiversity preservation

Why gender ?

“…..women are not a special interest group in water and sanitation,they are a mainstream interest group….without their involvement,projects risk being inappropriate,and failing.”

What is gender ?

Relative status of men and women society

Triple role

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Gender Role – Reproductive,productive, community managing role & community politics role.

The Gender Gap

Planning & Evaluation (including logframe) Gender Analysis Beneficiary Participation

Gender analysis

• Seeing what our eyes have been trained not to see.

• Access & control- men &women have on resources.

Why ?

• To Ensure services needed by men & women in a sustainable manner and are appropriate to their circumstances.

Participatory exercises & tools for gender analysis

• Access to resources • Task analysis & role flexibility by gender • Women’s lives:needs assessments • Gender analysis of poverty • Evaluation of gender diff. In decision making

Change Process

Actual situation Future situation Change through intervention How and where we want to be Expected reality Resistance to change How and where we are Perceived reality Management of the resistance to change

Women’s water roles

• Provision of water for fulfillment of fundamental human needs • Family hygiene is in their hands • Cooking ,washing,cleaning etc., • Hauling water and storage • Crop production • Livestock management women not passive users but active managers of . . community water supply

Women’s economic contribution

• Produce 80% of food in poorest parts of the world.(some places 95%) First produce water • Spend 8 hours finding,collecting,storing and purifying water.

• Negotiate with others for access to water,evaluate water sources,analyse supply patterns and lobby relevant authorities and launch protests when availability is threatened

Critiques the notion of participation

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Who participates in projects and why?

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Are the needs of men and women known and/or responded to?

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Is there a complementary or competing agenda among beneficiaries?

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Have participants had input into project monitoring and evaluation?

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Discussions with women as separate group and with men.

Why a gender approach ?

Black holes in the practice of community participation

• Community not a collection of equal people • Communities contain competing interest groups • Water is for life & is also an economic resource.

Power issues place women in a . . disadvantaged position

Gender approach highlights…

• The differences between men and women’s interest • The conventions and hierarchies in society • The differences among men and women based on age,ethnic background and other factors • The way gender roles and differences change

Women –

OUT

of Modern Management Picture

BEFORE

• WRM – part of unpaid, informal economy,governed by traditional norms,women are responsible .

NOW

• Once it enters public domain,it becomes subject to hierarchical rules –men are planners,managers & decision makers and women carry out the decisions.

Situation of Women today

• Women are overburdened by the double responsibilities of House hold & Economic effort • Cultural bias against participation in decision making bodies • Patriarchal relations also express themselves in control of land rights • Patriarchal patterns (attitudes) also among official decision making at all levels.

Situation cont’d

• Women lack skills relevant to participation (poor literacy level ) • Women often lack technical skills • Women are absent from,managerial engineering and policy making levels of society

Sustainable Water management

• •

Technical sustainability

: user involvement in the choice of appropriate and affordable technology

Social sustainability :

user recognition of the benefits of water resource provisions through stakeholder participation and gender sensitive approaches

SWM. . .Cont’d

• • •

Financial sustainability :

user management of financial resources

Environmental sustainability :

user resource management

Institutional sustainability :

user involvement as stakeholders in devolved power,capacity building and local autonomy.

Gender mainstreaming

. . .the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action,including legislation policies or programs, in all areas at all levels.

It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences as integral dimension of the design,implementation,monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political,economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally .

10 lessons on Gender

• Gender is central concern in water & sanitation • Ensuring both women’s and men’s participation improves project performance • Specific simple mechanisms must be created to ensure women’s involvement • Attention to gender needs as soon as possible • Gender analysis is integral to project identification and data collection

Lessons cont’d

• A learning approach is more gender responsive than blue print approach • Projects are more effective when both women and men’s preferences about hardware are addressed • Women and men promote project goals through both their traditional and non traditional roles • NGOs and especially women’s group can facilitate gender balanced approach • Gender related indicators should be included when assessing project performances

Mainstreaming gender in WRM

At national level

• Gender perspectives in the water sector to be recognised in all policies and programmes • Legal frameworks and institutional reforms to incorporate gender considerations • Building capacity increase the understanding of gender implications for water management • A proactive effort to gender sensitise water management approaches at national policy making levels to ensure equity • Gender training for men and women working in water related bodies at all levels

Gender in WRM Cont’d

• Policy changes so that gender becomes an intrinsic part of national WRM strategy

At the project/local /community level

• Gender stratification in research and planning • In-depth gender-sensitive consultation processes that allow participation of both in decision making • Ensuring gender balanced participation in management at all levels

Gender in WRM Cont’d

• Capacity building of women to perform all managerial functions • Gender training for both women and men at local level • Capacity building to equip women to perform technical functions • Strategies to ensure that both women and men share the benefits of changes in water supply management

Benefits of gendered WRM

• Greater effectiveness • Greater efficiency • Better development • Greater equity • Sustainable use in water eco-systems

Benefits to the society,environment and water sector

• Economic • Nutrition and health • Social • Environmental • Financial • Cultural

Thank you

Gains of Gender approach

• Efficiency • Effectiveness • Equity • Affordability P Amudha Project officer,Unicef