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Click herePress Release from The Second World Water Forum, date : 18-03-2000 - back

Gender alliance launched to help implement water visions

The Hague, The Netherlands

"In 35 years of experiences with conferences, this launching of the Water and Gender alliance is the most practical result I have ever witnessed". This is how Ms Chandni Joshi, Regional Programme Director of UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) in South Asia described her feelings to the press on the outcome of the From Vision to Action session on Gender Mainstreaming that took place at the Second World Water Forum on 17 March.

Partners that have been involved in getting gender balance in the Vision consultations and documents have agreed to form an alliance that will continue to assist implementation of the vision on the ground after the ministers have left The Hague. Bill Cosgrove, Director of the World Water Vision Unit in Paris announced that one of the last actions of this unit would be to host a first workshop to map out an action programme with the partners involved from various water use sectors. "This alliance being formed today means a continuing push for the inclusion of gender considerations in water resources management and the equal involvement of women and men in the water sector", Mr. Cosgrove said.

The IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre will act as secretariat for the alliance. This group also coordinated the Water & Gender Major Group session prior to and at the Forum. In the process of getting gender mainstreamed in the water vision 75 organizations were involved. "Through these partners we have Gender ambassadors influencing the major Forum sessions. They are going to be our partners putting their water visions into practice", said Jan Teun Visscher, Director IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, The Netherlands. The alliance will advocate change on the ground in areas such as gender sensitive information sharing, networking and capacity building, he added.

A mixed panel from the Global Water Partnership, ITN Philippines, IIDS/Sussex University, UNIFEM and Water Aid and led by Ismael Serageldin and participants welcomed the alliance as a formal gender (and not: women) lobby. They advised to add the community dimension through organisations and individuals representing community gender issues. Addressing gender further means demystifying gender, addressing value systems and cutting out the stereotyping of women as victims and beneficiaries only.

Using broader tools that are gender sensitive is to be preferred over separate gender tools. Institutional change for operationalising gender in the overall water sector is another crucial aspect to be addressed in a follow-up programme, including the transformation of senior management attitudes and arriving at a better gender balance among professionals in water management. Changing the sector begins with access of girls to basic education, said HRH Prince Willem Alexander. Fragmented operations in the field should be addressed. Also in other groups it was stressed that the sector does not yet cater for the reality that domestic water supply is also used for small scale production and irrigation water for domestic use.

Mr. Ismail Serageldin said that the Global Water Partnership would welcome a concrete proposal from this alliance.

The partners who have initially started and who have now agreed to further support this alliance include:

  • IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre
  • IWMI (International Water Management Institute)
  • IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Social Policy Group)
  • UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women)
  • IIAV (International Information Centre and Archives for the Women’s Movement)
  • Both ENDS (Environment and Development Service for NGOs)

For more information: contact Dick de Jong, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, through the Press help desk, or through the Streams of Knowledge stall SH 46 at the Fair. Later at IRC, P.O. Box 2869, 2601 CW Delft, The Netherlands, phone +31 (0)15 219 296, fax: +31 (0) 219 0955

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