Tapping into collective wisdom: Gender sensitive development and water ecosystems
Session 1: “The (s)he approach to reach the water-targets”
Water is key to combating poverty, empowering women and achieving sustainable development, while improving human health, livelihood, equitable economic growth and sustaining ecosystems. Water use and management systems reflect the social differences, power relations and values present in society that impact women’s empowerment. Since 1992, gender inclusion in sustainable water resources management has been widely endorsed globally for emphasising the people-water-ecosystems connection. Examples of development interventions based on respecting traditional/indigenous knowledge can be useful to highlight the importance of this evolutionary collective wisdom accumulated over time. Conversely, insensitive policy interventions have undermined women’s empowerment and could impact achieving SDGs and gender equality through ways to address broader social equity within a water, development and ecosystem nexus. We aspire to establish the links between SDG 6, SDG5 and other water and equality-related targets.
The first session makes the global SDG 5 and 6 connection and elaborates what this means on the ground. It shows that gender and women’s issues are not just about drinking water and sanitation services, but are part and parcel of all 8 targets on water and beyond; it addresses resistance to change and how to tackle it.
The (s)he approach to reach the water-targets
11:00 Framing the Seminar
Eiman Karar, SIWI SPC and Lesha Witmer, Women for Water Partnership
Canisius Kanangire, AMCOW
11:25 Green Lady of Bihar’ and Sustainable Watershed Management in India
Nandita Singh, Water Development Centre (UCV) Norrtälje
11:35 Women, SDGs and climate related adaptation: A Practitioner Perspective
Kusum Athukorala, Women for Water Partnership
11:45 Circular economy practices for exotic vegetables cultivation of women farmers
Priska Prasetya, WASTE
11:55 Q&A; Discussion
12.15 BORDA: Artistic “ Icebreaker” – Resistance to Change
12:20 Recap and introduction to following session
Lesha Witmer, Women for Water Partnership
12.30 End of session
The objective of the seminar was to contribute to better understanding water-related sustainable development for enhanced ecosystem functioning through gendered transformative approaches and tools. By showcasing experiences from policy to practice and unpacking practical application of tools and frameworks, the seminar made the global connection between SDG 5 and 6 and explored what this means on the ground. Each session was attendees by 50+ participants, with majority engaging in the interactive Mentimeter element. The digital participatory tool stimulated discussion around notable gender statistics and perceptions around what it means to be a GESI champion.
The overarching key messages from these presentations and discussions were:
1. Implementation of gender proactive approaches, driven by women adopting new ‘non-traditional’ roles, for inclusive and equitable ecosystem management and water developments can only be effective if change is embraced by those desiring transformation
2. Citizen science and bottom-up decision making on why and what disaggregated data is measured, and by whom, has a direct effect on benefactor agency and empowerment, and is a critical step toward creating linkages between SDGs 5 ,6 & 10.
3. Harnessing the collective, indigenous and traditional knowledge of women together with modern science ensures communities are equipped with appropriate approaches to better manage natural ecosystem limitations.
Given the direct links between this seminar and WWW 2019’s theme of ‘Water for society, including all’, the seminar closed with a formal commitment (‘handing over the baton’) from key organisations responsible for taking actions forward to 2019 – including SIWI, UNSECO WWAP, Women for Water Partnership and the Australian Government.
• Gender and women’s issues are not just about WASH; they are part and parcel of all 8 water targets and critical co