GWA Booth at 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto

The booth had a good location in the Exhibition Hall opposite the Events stage and attracted a lot of interest, both from people who already knew about the GWA or the Gender in Court session, and from other participants at the Forum who were passing by. It also acted as a useful base and meeting point for GWA members at the Forum.

It had an eye catching Gender in Court design with prominent displays of GWA posters and materials. Materials which were displayed and distributed included:

Gender in Court flyer
Tapping into Sustainability (background paper for the Gender and Water sessions)
Gender and Water on CD (electronic versions of GWA publications and background documents)
The Gender Approach to Water Management - Lessons Learnt Around the Globe (booklet in English, French and Portuguese)
Postcards (6 different designs)
Sidestream or Mainstream (flyer in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish)
The Gender and Water Alliance (flyer in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish)
The Gender and Water Development Report 2003 (full report in English, summaries in French and Portuguese)
Advocacy Manual for Gender and Water Ambassadors
Order forms for GWA products in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish
Feedback forms for GWA products

In addition, we displayed and distributed gender and water material produced by GWA partners.

Interest in the booth encouraged participants at the Forum to look at the materials and these generated a very positive response. We had good discussions, including encouraging some participants to become GWA members and advocacy with others who were sceptical and/or had little understanding of gender issues. Overall more than 1000 people visited the booth, and we distributed 800 CDs, 1000 postcards and hundreds of booklets, reports, background papers and flyers. In addition we received many requests for products to be posted, including for French, Portuguese and Spanish versions which are still being produced.

People taking GWA material from the booth were asked for their business card, and were given a feedback form for their initial impressions. This will provide information on the distribution of the products and contact details for following up with further details about GWA membership and possible follow-up evaluation of the GWA products.

The booth was arranged by Catarina Fonseca and run by members of the GWA Advocacy Materials group (Rose Lidonde and Ian Smout) with assistance from the GWA Secretariat (Loekie Broersma and Andrea Tammarazio).