WUNRN
PeaceWomen Across the Globe
Newsletter 01/2012
Safe water. with women!
Samia Ibrahim of Sudan
By Maren Haartje and Kathrin Meier
Safe water. with
women! sauvegarder l’eau. avec les femmes! is the title of the new poster
exhibition of Peace Women Across the Globe. The exhibition was presented for
the first time at the 6th World Water Forum held in Marseille, 12-17 March
2012. The posters portray women who advocate a sustainable water resources
management program with their ideas and abilities.
Safe water. with women! was developed in cooperation with the international organization Women for Water Partnership (WfWP), one of the leading NGOs addressing the topic of women and water, and Green Cross International. PWAG’s four experts on sustainable water management, Samia Ibrahim (Sudan), Maria Eugenia Santana (Mexico), Yin Yuzhen and Yongchen Wang (China) were invited to travel to Marseille to present their work done under the auspices of our network.
The
rationale for PWAG engagement in this issue is that peace, women and water are
critically inter-related. Conflicts are often caused by disputes about
resources and the spread of water shortage increasingly threatens a peaceful
coexistence. In most countries where there is no free flow of water directly
into homes, the duty to supply the family with water lies in the hands of the
women. Even to this today, many women have to walk long distances to the next
water source, and the distance keeps growing. Moreover, in armed conflict
regions, walks are life endangering: the women are preferred targets for
hostile groups on their way to the well.
Climate change further aggravates the situation. As rainy seasons become more and more irregular and droughts are longer lasting, the shortage of water and the increasing desertification lead to a drastic loss of livelihood. According to the UN, every year 12 million hectares of land – equivalent to about three times the size of Switzerland – are being lost to the ever-growing deserts. PeaceWoman Yin Yuzhen’s unfaltering work resulted in a method to recover fertile soil from sanded regions in her native country of Inner Mongolia. Thus, she has demonstrated that desertification can be stopped and, it is possible to reclaim the soil for agriculture so vegetables and fruits can be planted again.
The water experts portrayed in the exhibition demonstrate the creative and successful ways in which women fight for the protection of and for fair access to water. Wang Yongchen from China is one of these women: For 16 years she has been travelling along the rivers to their sources in the Tibetan Highlands to record the relationships between ecology and the life circumstances of the local people. It is important for women to take the initiative and to stand up publicly for clean water. The four PWAG women are among the dedicated and committed activists who contribute to a sustainable and peaceful future.
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