Integrating Gender
Perspective into
Water Management and Climate Adaptation
The
impacts of climate change are most dramatically felt through changes in
water - changes that will severely affect humans, societies and the
environment. And whenever clean water is scarce, the livelihoods of the
poor and women are often the first to suffer the consequences.
“Women play a central part in the provision,
management and safeguarding of water.”
Dublin Principle 3, International Conference
on Water and the Environment
Development Issues for the Twenty-first
Century, Dublin, 1992
The UN Sustainable Development Goals have
three dedicated goals for Gender Equality (SDG 5), Clean Water and
Sanitation (SDG 6) and Climate Action (SDG 13). Water management
connects all these goals. Identifying inter linkages between these goals
will facilitate more effective implementation of the goals. Gender
equality and gender responsive activities are also recognised elements
in the Paris Agreement. One of the main keys to fulfilling the goals set
out in the Paris Agreement will be wise water management.
Gender Disparities: Increasing
Vulnerability
of Women to Climatic Risks
Women, especially in the rural context, due
to historical discrimination and biases in both the formal and informal
labour markets as well as cultural and social practices, have less
assets, income and savings to deal with the loss and damages from
extreme weather events. As gendered work and family responsibilities
make poor women the main cleaners and caregivers, poor women are the
ones most affected by water and climate change issues (Moraes and
Perkins, 2009).
As a part of the project titled, ‘Enhancing
climate resilience of women, adolescents and children in Rajasthan’, a
detailed Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) study in three
districts (Baran, Jalore and Udaipur) in Rajasthan with 1500 women
provided evidence which highlights the vulnerabilities of women.
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To get a bucket of drinking water is a
struggle for most women in the community. The onus of bringing water
from far off distances (2-5 kms), its management and storage is on
women. On an average, women in these areas walk for more than 14,000 km
a year just to fetch water. This excessive work has reduced their time
for leisure and has also adversely impacted their health.
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Apart from the mother, the girl child has to
walk for hours in the hot sun for search of water. They have to make at
least three trips in a day, sometimes even more. This impacts her
education leading to a higher percentage of drop outs.
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Water sources are mostly open dug wells so
the quality of water is poor - dirty, saline and has turbidity. The same
water is used for drinking, bathing and cooking purposes. The only way
through which they filter the water is with the help of a cloth (quality
unknown).
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Women have a strong concern with privacy
since due to lack of sanitation facilities (toilets), they have to
indulge in open defecation by roadsides or on waste ground, thereby
causing infections.
-
Women representatives in the community are
mostly relegated to a puppet status. There is absolutely no
participation of women in gram sabhas and neither are they a part of any
of the committees in the village.
Policy Recommendations
There is an interdependency between
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 - ‘achieve gender equality and
empower all women and girls’ and SDG 6 - ‘ensure availability and
sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’. Experiences
around the world have shown that moving in this direction calls for
mainstreaming gender. At the same time, women themselves are already
strong advocates for their own concerns, which have become a central
part of the water agenda at many levels (Yoon, 1991).
Recommendation 1: Promoting Integrated
Water Resource Management (IWRM)
The principles of IWRM are needed to be
stressed and advocated if sustainable adaptation strategies to climate
change are to be realised. Mechanisms must be put in place to cut across
sectors and link programmes and strategies dealing with water and
climate issues in concrete ways. The implementation along with radical
thinking would help in water management.
Recommendation 2: Capacity Building of
Women
Training on various aspects of the PRIs
regarding community assets, financial management, education,
understanding of bureaucratic structures, government schemes for the
rural poor, public distribution system etc. should be provided to the
women members and concerned local officials. It is crucial to develop
women’s leadership and decision-making skills through training,
mentoring and skill building. Women’s productivity in using water for
agriculture and small business also needs to be improved through
training, market linkages and access to information.
Recommendation 3: Enhanced Participation
in Decision Making
Stakeholder involvement must be the backbone
of all the processes, particularly in the case of women, since their
knowledge of livelihood planning and of agriculture and the environment
often go unrecognised and untapped. It should be ensured that women are
adequately represented in all decision-making processes, at all levels.
All stakeholders within the planning process and while designing any
adaptation strategy need to ensure that empowerment of women is a
priority and all programmes must be gender-sensitive. Women’s
participation in Water User Committees (WUCs) has been limited. They
could be empowered through greater participation.
Recommendation 4: Mainstreaming Gender in
the Existing and Upcoming Policies and Frameworks to Ensure
Sustainability
It is essential to develop gender-inclusive
policies and enact legislations to accelerate women’s advancement. In
addition, engaging and promoting women’s unique adaptive capacities
would allow decision makers to pursue policies that build resilience in
communities while also promoting gender equality. Some suggested
actions:
- Mobilising resources to improve access to
safe water and sanitation
- Promoting access to sanitation
Conclusion
Gender-sensitive approaches to water
resources management are desirable for achieving efficiency, social
equity and gender-equality goals. The UN Commission on Sustainable
Development has very aptly affirmed that ‘water has a woman’s face’. It
is through these women’s hands that households, communities and entire
health and economies are sustained. However, this heavy burden often
impedes women’s education, income earning opportunities and social,
cultural and political involvement. Engaging women is fundamentally
important for durable climate change adaptation, particularly during
climatic stresses. Adopting gender-sensitive approaches therefore means
rethinking water development in a number of ways. Greater community
engagement and capacity building will be key to furthering gender
equality in water management. ■
Deepa Chaudhary
dchaudhary1@devalt.org
References
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IPCC 2013, 2014
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Mainstreaming Gender in Water
Management: A Practical Journey to Sustainability: A Resource Guide (New
York,United Nations Development Programme, 2003), www.undp.org/water/gender
guide “Water resources management”, a World Bank Policy Paper, Informal
Conference of Western European Directors, 1992 (Washington, D.C., World
Bank, 1993). UNICEF Strategies in Water and Environmental Sanitation(New
York, United Nations Children’s Fund, 1995)
-
Participation Of Women In
Village Panchayat. Dr. Vivek Mittal, Nupur, International Journal of
Business Management. ISSN NO. 2349-3402 VOL. 2(2), 2015
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RSACC (2011), Rajasthan State
Action Plan on Climate Change. Government of Rajasthan
-
Resource Guide: Mainstreaming
Gender in Water Management. Version 2.1 November 2006
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