Gender & Water

The crucial issue of gender and water is dealt with by a large number of organizations which come together to identify gender balanced ways of conducting water resource management. They arrange themselves in numerous groups, two of which are featured here.

Gender and Water Alliance (GWA)

The Gender and Water Alliance (GWA), a network of about 750 organizations, was formally established in June 2000 to promote gender mainstreaming in all aspects of water resource management (WRM). GWA is an international network and is open to all organisations and individuals involved in the water sector. Governed by an independent steering committee and directed by a secretariat based in the Netherlands, the GWA program is funded by the Dutch Directorate General of International Cooperation (DGIS). The principles of sustainable water resource management and of gender equity which were endorsed at the Second World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference in The Hague in March 2000 drive the GWA agenda. They offer a mix of information and knowledge sharing activities such as electronic conferencing, a web site, advocacy leaflets and video, annual reports, capacity building and pilot programmes.

An advocacy manual and other information on GWA's activities can be found here, while a list of publications can be accessed here. For more information please visit the GWA's website at: www.genderandwater.org.

Women for Water Partnership

The overall goal of the Women for Water, Water for Women (WfWfW) partnership is to advance the internationally agreed principles for sustainable water management by turning these into day-to-day practice. WfWfW partners are active at all levels and address those issues relevant for Integrated Water Resource Management. Their activities range from setting up a local women's group with the aim to creating and managing sanitation facilities, to lobbying development partners at international fora, urging them to adopt gender responsive budgeting as a critical tool for gender mainstreaming.

For more information, please go to www.womenforwater.org.

================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to: wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.