Mainstreaming gender in water – there is a word for it in Arabic

The development of gender-sensitive water services in the MENA region and Arab countries could be given a huge boost if more high-quality materials were available in Arabic.

That was made clear by the first ever GWA training course in the region on gender mainstreaming in integrated water resources management (IWRM).

The initiative to use Arabic as the main language was highly valued by participants, as most materials on gender and IWRM in literature and on websites are in English and therefore not easily accessible. It is part of the GWA Regional Strategic Plan to provide more information in Arabic – one project scheduled for 2008 is the creation of an Arabic lexicon on sanitation.

The event in Tunis from 26 November to 3 December was a training of trainers course (ToT) in gender mainstreaming in IWRM and it will inspire joint work with partner organisations in the region during 2008/2009.

In all, 19 participants from nine countries developed and presented action plans on how to implement training on this topic in their own countries. After GWA approval, they will be implemented, if possible as a joint venture with partner organisations.

GWA is very interested in any information on Gender and Water in Arabic. Please send it to us so we can share it with our members or link to it on our Arabic website: www.ar.genderandwater.org

As we say about ourselves:

مرحباٌ بكم في موقع اتحاد النوع الاجتماعي و الماء

يسعي الاتحاد الي تحسين الفرص العادلة للنساء والرجال في الحصول علي وتدبير شئون المياه لاغراض الاستخدام المنزلي، الصرف الصحي، توفير الغذاء ومن اجل استدامة البيئة. ويؤمن الاتحاد بان الفرص العادلة للحصول علي المياه وتدبير امرها هي حقوق اساسية للجميع وبذات القدر عامل حاسم لازالة الفقر وترقية الاستدامة.