Follow-up of Rapid Gender and Pro-Poor Assessments: Gender mainstreaming training workshops organised in 14 African cities of WAC II

The Major emerging issues from the Rapid Gender and Pro-poor Assessments were that even though governments have political commitment and will to the achievement of gender sensitive water and sanitation related objectives, the implementation of these objectives has been hampered. To address this, UN-HABITAT’s WSIB in partnership with GWA undertook 14 gender training workshops for WAC II implementing partners, water and sanitation utilities, and WATSAN decision and policy makers

In May 2005, in partnership with UN-HABITAT’s Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Branch (WSIB), the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA), carried out a Rapid Gender Assessment (RGA) in 17 African Cities to have more information on the status and challenges of poor women and vulnerable groups in the water and sanitation sector, as part of the Water for African Cities Programme II (WAC II).

The Major emerging issues from this RGA were that even though governments have political commitment and will to the achievement of gender sensitive water and sanitation related objectives, the implementation of these objectives has been hampered by elements such as: (i) weak involvement of women in decision making, (ii) lack of awareness on the responsibilities of both women and men, boys and girls in the provision of water at the household level, (iii) lack of awareness for implementing agencies and decision and policy makers on women’s specific needs related to water and sanitation, and (iv) finally lack of information on cases of violence occurring to women and girl-children in the collection of water from long distances and in the search of sanitation.

To address these concerns, UN-HABITAT’s WSIB in partnership with GWA undertook 14 gender training workshops for WAC II implementing partners, water and sanitation utilities, and WATSAN decision and policy makers. The programme was to strengthen knowledge, develop gender mainstreaming skills and inculcate a gender responsive culture among the decision and policy makers, implementing partners and stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector. The purpose of these gender training workshops is to effectively integrate gender concerns in all their ongoing WAC II Programme activities on the ground.

The first three gender training workshops took place in 2006 in Dar es Salam, Kampala and Nairobi. From May up to August 2007, 11 gender mainstreaming in water and sanitation training workshops were organised in: Yaoundé and Douala in Cameroun; Harar, Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia; Kigali, Rwanda; Bamako, Mali; Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Jos/Plateau estate Nigeria; Dakar Senegal; and Accra Ghana. In total a number of more than 420 people both women and men were trained.