Bridging Gender Divides in Water

With careful planning and preparation, GWA was able to mainstream gender issues in this Water Forum much more than in those that preceded it. GWA managed to be actively involved in more than 20 thematic sessions, and the active participation of all GWA members present ensured that gender concerns were raised in all thematic sessions, side-events, and regional presentations they attended.

Other activities at the Fifth World Water Forum were a training session on Gender, Water and Waste, the launch of the Resource Guide on Gender and Water Management in 4 new languages and the launch of four educational cartoon booklets on Gender and Water also in 4 languages. The GWA stall at the Water Expo space was a real crowd puller, with all kinds of people passing by to share their experiences in gender mainstreaming with GWA members. Even the official representative of Ban Ki-moon – UN Secretary General – showed his interest in the GWA stall!

The message conveyed by GWA was that for water projects and policies to be successful, women must be recognised as primary users and managers of this resource and need to be involved in decision-making processes, whereby a special focus on the poor and marginalised groups is essential.

That GWA’s presence did not go unnoticed was apparent from the numerous interview requests that many of our members and staff got from journalists. If you are interested to read some of these interviews, click here.

Although GWA has managed to gain a lot of visibility and space for gender concerns in this event, there is still a vast amount of work to be done. We have to be prepared to put in a lot more efforts, especially to garner political commitment for translating gender-sensitive technology and methodology into action. This was reflected in the statement made by the GWA chair, Sara Ahmed, in the formal closing ceremony on the last day of the Water Forum. She urged the ministers present to stop debating whether the right to water and sanitation is a human right, but instead to move forward on how to implement and assure this human right, particularly for the poor and vulnerable, women and children.