Water Access and Equity

Module developed by Professor Michelle Kooy, Professor, UNESCO-IHE;
Cecilia Alda Vidal, PhD Researcher University of Manchester

In this module, we invite you to join us on a journey around the world, using selected case studies as a lens through which to look more deeply into the issues and challenges related to equity and access to water. What are the problems in how people can/can not access water, why do they exist? How can we think about issues of equity and access in ways that are most inclusive, and useful in various contexts? What are the solutions to enable more equitable access to water – not only for water, sanitation and hygiene, but also productive uses?

Bringing together materials produced by an international group of recognized water scholars and practitioners we will lead participants through a series of 5 one-hour sessions dedicated to specific topics on water equity and access to help answer the above set of questions.  Using the case studies, film clips, guided questions, suggested reading, we examine concepts, definitions, framings, and macro level discourses which matter for how water is distributed, but we also highlight the struggles and current campaigns of communities challenging conditions of inequitable access, and look at the policy options which exist, and evaluates their success, to increase equity of access at global and national scales.

There are 5 submodules:
Submodule 1: Water Access & Equity: Introduction
Submodule 2: The Human Right to Water and Sanitation
Submodule 3: Financing Access
Submodule 4: Equity and participation on water access
Submodule 5:Gender and water access

Other related International Waters Lessons and Submodules

Submodule 1: Water Access & Equity: Introduction (Cecilia Alda-Vidal)

This session provides a general introduction to the problematic of equitable and sustainable access to water. It discusses how water access is framed and problematized at international level and looks at the main political and economic frameworks shaping discourses, debates, and agenda on water access.

Learning Objectives

  • Identify different discourses on the global water crisis
  • Expand on global figures related to access to water versus individual barriers in access to water
  • Reflect on different definitions of access to water
  • Define equity in relation to water access

Key Concepts

Scarcity, access, right-to-water, disparities, equity

1. The global water crisis

According to the UNDP (2016),

“Water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of people around the world, an alarming figure that is projected to increase with the rise of global temperatures as a consequence of climate change. Although 2.1 billion people have gained access to improved water sanitation since 1990, dwindling supplies of safe drinking water is a major problem impacting every continent.”

In this submodule we will disentangle some of the ideas contained in the paragraph. Let’s start with the concept of water scarcity.

There seems to be general agreement to the fact that the world is facing a major water problem: the so called global water crisis. To understand what this global water crisis is about, watch the following clips:

The first clip, from the US National Academy of Engineering provides an overview to fresh water availability at global level.

The second clip, a PowerPoint presentation developed by FAO Water gives some quick facts on water scarcity, watch the presentation until minute 2:45

Reflect a few moments on these two short clips: In what terms is the water problem presented? what are the main causes of water scarcity according to each of the clips?

Water scarcity problems haven often been defined in terms of physical challenges (i.e. availability of resources), economical challenges (i.e. financing), or technological challenges (i.e. lack of infrastructures or technologies). Yet, there are other dimensions to take into account.

Watch this interview with Professor Erik Swyngendow (University of Manchester) (you can stop at minute 05:27).

 

To get more insights on the political dimensions of the global water crisis read the Santa Cruz declaration. According to the authors, the global water crisis

“is fundamentally one of injustice and inequality.” (Pg 1)

What does this mean to you?

The UNDP Report published in 2006: Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis also discusses the global water crises in similar terms. Authors go beyond the myth of water scarcity to analyse the role of poverty, power, and inequalities.

According to the report,

“There is more than enough water in the world for domestic purposes, for agriculture and for industry. The problem is that some people notably the poor are systematically excluded from access by their poverty, by their limited legal rights or by public policies that limit access to the infrastructures that  provide water for life and for livelihoods” (Pg 3)

Download the UNDP report and read the Foreword (pages V and VI)

2. Understanding the Global figures

Another idea contained in the UNDP quote at the beginning of this submodule is that:

” 2.1 billion people have gained access to improved water sanitation since 1990″

In the next two sections we will analyse the meaning of such global water figures.

First, let’s look at how  access is defined:

Read the definitions used in the context of the MDGs.

 

Access is defined here in terms of water sources and sanitation facilities (i.e. infrastructures). Can you think of potential situations in which access to water or sanitation infrastructure does not automatically mean access to water or to sanitation?

Can you think of some missing dimensions in these definitions of water and sanitation access? what do you think the limitations of these definitions are?

You will find some hints in the following clip

More detailed information on the global situation on water and sanitation access was presented in the WHO/JMP report:  Progress on sanitation and drinking water report – 2015 update and MDG assessment.  Read the foreword to the report. What is the current status of water and sanitation access at global level?

The following images extracted from pages 4 and 5 of the WHO/JMP report show the global picture of water and sanitation achievements by country

progress-2015 progress-sanitation-2015

Can you see differences in progress achieved in the different regions and countries? Which regions or countries are showing more/less progress?

Read the complete pages 4 and 5 of the WHO/JMP 2015 update to get more information progress of the MDG – 7.

Now watch this interview with Mr. Tom Slaymaker (Deputy Head of Policy, Water Aid, JMP water working group lead – monitoring post 2015). He briefly summarizes some of the strengths and limitations of the MDG target, (you can stop at minute 2:26)

To get more insight on this topic, read the section Goals, targets and their barriers of the IIED (2013) briefing “Making the right to water a reality: tackling barriers to access and equity” 

3. Global disparities and everyday inequalities.

“In previous reports, the JMP has drawn attention to inequalities in access to drinking water and sanitation between rural and urban areas, rich and poor, and other groups and the general population. The MDG target called for countries to halve the proportion of the population without access, but it is important to ask who has benefited from progress made during the MDG era, and who has been left behind.”(WHO/JMP, 2015 pg 18)

The JMP acknowledges that big numbers mask disparities, have a look at the WHO/JMP 2011 report from pages 17 to 31 and identify some of these disparities.

Regional disparities, rural- urban disparities, rich-poor disparities, gender disparities and also other elements as time used for collection or  quality of the water accessed are some of the elements not reflected by the indicator.

In addition to this disparities at global level, big numbers on access to water and sanitation do not reflect the everyday barriers that people might face accessing water and sanitation. In this clip Louisa Gosling, (Water Aid) discusses different type of barriers people face to access wash at everyday level.

In the clip, Louisa mentions Environmental, Attitudinal and Institutional barriers for accessing water and sanitation services at everyday level. What do you think those are? Think about examples for each type of barrier (some hints here).

Particular members of the same community are more likely to face these barriers. In this audio Rosie Wheen from WaterAid Australia discusses different axes of social inequality to take into account in wash.

SDGs are trying to incorporate these issues in the new set of goals.

Look at this WHO/JMP brochure on post 2015 and the new definition of the targets for water and sanitation.

According to the JMP,

The new SDGs “cannot be achieved without a much sharper focus on inequalities in access between groups – such as rich and poor, rural and urban, or disadvantaged groups versus the general population. Disaggregated and better WASH data would identify inequalities where they occur to allow targeted intervention”

4. Water equity and social justice

The new SDGs focus on a “new” important dimension of water access: Equitability

WHO/JMP brochure on post 2015 defines Equitability as the:

“progressive reduction and elimination of inequalities between population subgroups”

Definitions of equity by different actors in the water sector refer to ideas of fair, fairness or justice

According to WaterAid, for example:

equity-wateraid

 

The Santa Cruz declaration uses the following definition,

“Water justice can be conceived as equitable or comparable access for particular water uses and deliberated fairness between uses”

And ODI researchers Calow and Mason (2014, page 2) define water equity as,

“fair shares in access and entitlements to water, and benefits from water use”

An important discussion that will come back in the coming years as the SDGs are being worked out is what do we mean with equitable and what type of inequalities are going to be targeted. Are we talking about quantity and quality of water available for each individual or equity has a more radical meaning?

“In other words, how inequity or inequality is assessed in normative terms—and addressed in practical terms—may depend less upon how we conceive inequity and more upon how we define equity in theory and practice, or in what spaces or dimensions we seek to achieve equality (Sen 1992). Equity in water provision at the individual and household level of analysis is frequently evaluated through volume and cleanliness of water delivered (e.g. do households or businesses get equal quantities of clean water?) We suggest that the issues that constitute equity in access to, and provision of water, are wider than the quantity and quality of water. They may include: labor time collecting water, health outcomes from inadequate water and sanitation, work and other opportunities foregone because of water collection, certainty of supply, and the valuation of domestic work, income earning and business opportunities made possible by water supply. A useful metric in evaluating equity of access to water is through freedoms and capabilities; how does access to water facilitate the range of capabilities (e.g. washing, laundry, agriculture, small-business and the like) characteristic of any given society?”

5. Case Studies from Kenya and India

To conclude watch the following clip about the challenges of access to water and sanitation in Kenya and India. Pay special attention to the issues discussed in the submodule.

Key Readings

Discussion Questions

  • Is the political dimension of the global water crisis new to you?
  • What do you think are the implications of the shift in focus on availability/financing/technologies to power and inequalities?
  • What is Swyngendow’s main argument?
  • How is his argument in relation to the global water crisis different to the ones presented in the other two clips?
  • What do you think about these definitions?
  • What are the dimension of access that they cover?

Quiz

Further Readings

  • Matthew Goff & Ben Crow (2014) What is water equity? The unfortunate consequences of a global focus on ‘drinking water’, Water International, 39:2, 159-171
  • Flora Lu, Constanza Ocampo-Raeder & Ben Crow (2014) Equitable water governance: future directions in the understanding and analysis of water inequities in the global South, Water International, 39:2, 129-142,
  • (2014) Santa Cruz Declaration on the Global Water Crisis, Water International, 39:2, 246-261,
  • Truelove, Y. (2011). (Re-) Conceptualizing water inequality in Delhi, India through a feminist political ecology framework. Geoforum, 42(2), 143-152.
  • Romano et al (2013), Equitable Water Governance across Scales and Disciplines:
    Conceptualizations, Previous Research, and Future Directions. You can access it through Professor Sarah Romano website or here >>

Other related International Waters Lessons and Submodules

Submodule 2: The Human Right to Water and Sanitation (Dr. Emanuele Fantini)

 

Learning Objectives

  • Identify and critically reflect on the different approaches to the human right to water and sanitation
  • Reflect about the potential of the notion of the right to water and sanitation for transformatory actions (political change/transformation)

Key Concepts

Human rights, sustainable development goals, equity, privatization, access, stewardship

 

  1. Introduction to the material

This submodule analyzes different understanding and narratives about the human right to water and sanitation (HRWS). Questions as who is referring to the HRWS?, with which purposes? through which practices and tools? will be discussed. Specific attention will be devoted to unravel the relation between different HRWS narratives and equity issues, looking at its political implications.

In particular the session analyses three different HRWS narratives

  • International organizations (UN and the SDGs agenda)
  • Social movements against the privatization of water services
  • The private sector (private water operators)

Each narrative is introduced by a short video lecture, followed by a video portraying the narrative in action and by the discussion of reading material and official documents presenting that specific narrative.

In the final part of the session, similarities and differences between the three narratives are discussed, particularly in terms of the relation between the HRWS and equity issues.

Watch the following video for an introduction to the module and topic

2. The UN and the HRWS

In July 2010 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of the right to life and all human rights”. It also called upon states and international organisations “to provide financial resources, capacity-building and technology transfer, through international assistance and cooperation, in particular to developing countries, in order to scale up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all”.

Along the same path, in September 2010 also the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation, specifying that “the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is derived from the right to an adequate standard of living and inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as the right to life and human dignity”.

As acknowledged by the Canadian water activist Maude Barlow “these two resolutions represented an extraordinary breakthrough in the international struggle for the right to safe drinking water and sanitation and a crucial milestone in the fight for water justice”(Barlow 2006: 4). In fact, prior to these resolutions, water and sanitation had not been explicitly acknowledged as human rights at international level. Representatives of national governments, NGOs, social movements and the private sector had been fiercely discussing about the wording of the final declarations of international conferences such as the World Water Forum: should water be qualified as fundamental human right, basic human need or strategic economic good?

2. SDG 6 and the HRWS

The two UN resolutions have supported and legitimised explicit reference to the human right to water and sanitation in international policies and fora. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seem a good example of this practice. In fact the human right to water and sanitation is among the few human rights explicitly mentioned in the SDGs main document.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes a dedicated goal on water and sanitation (SDG 6) that sets out to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” SDG 6 does not focus only on drinking water and sanitation, addressing the whole water cycle management, wastewater and ecosystem resources.

Two targets of SDG6 are clearly linked to the content of the human right to water and sanitation and resonate the wording of the 2010 UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council resolutions.

Target 6.1 “By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all”

Target 6.2 “By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations”

In describing SDG 6 and its targets UN Water affirms that:

“The target is specific, measurable and action-oriented and supports several other targets without duplicating them. Note that experts consider universal access to a basic water service achievable by 2030, but universal access to “safe and affordable” unlikely to be achieved in all countries”.

Similarly they note that “experts consider ending open defecation and ensuring universal access to a basic water service achievable by 2030, but universal access to “adequate” is unlikely to be achieved in all countries”.

3. SDG 6 and equity

Now watch this official UN video on “The Sustainable Development Goals Explained: Clean Water and Sanitation”

 

Now watch this talk by the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Water and Sanitation, Ms. Catarina De Albuquerque, now Executive chair of the global partnership “Sanitation and Water for All”, addressing the 2015 Stockholm Water Week plenary.

Watch from 12:50 to 16:35

4. Discussion: the UN and the HRWS

Watch this video summarising the main points of the first section and compare them with your notes.

5. The European Citizens initiative on the human right to water

Now watch this video

6. The Coalition Against Water Privatisation in South Africa

Even long before the explicit recognition by the UN of the human right to water and sanitation, the 1996 South African Constitution (section 27) acknowledged that “1) everyone has the right to have access to … (b) sufficient food and water; 2) the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of these rights”.

The constitutional recognition of the human right to water has legitimised and empowered social mobilisations against neo-liberal policies promoted by South Africa national and local authorities, such as the privatisation of water services or prepaid water meters.

Now watch this video presenting the struggle of the Coalition Against Water Privatisation against prepaid water meters in Johannesburg in the name of the right to water.

 

7. Discussion: social movements and the HRWS

Watch this video summarising the main points of the section and compare them with your notes.

8. Private companies and the HRWS

The position of the private sector on the human right to water has not been an easy one and has evolved in the last decades.

The private sector has denied the existence of such a right and lobbied against its explicit recognition in international arenas such as the World Water Forums.

To have an idea of the evolution and ambiguities of private sector positions have a look at these video

In the first video (February 2013) Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck denies HRWS as an “extremist position” arguing for assigning to water economic value (watch from 2:05 to 3:39)

 

In this second video (march 2013) he later returns on his position recognising water as human right, presenting his approach to deal with water scarcity: recognising water as precious resources, better valuing water to incentive investments and better management

Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck: Water is a Human Right

9. Corporate social responsibility and the HWRS

In the last years, the reference to the HRWS has been institutionalised within private sectors documents and initiatives, often in partnership with the UN.

Aquafed, the international association of private water operators, has several documents on the HRWS.

The UN global compact has launched the CEO Water mandate. The CEO Water Mandate is a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General and the UN Global Compact, providing a multi-stakeholder platform for the development, implementation, and disclosure of corporate water sustainability policies and practices. The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative with over 7000 corporate participants and other stakeholders from more than 140 countries. The UN Global Compact is based on ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment, and anti-corruption.

They have a guide about respecting the human right to water and sanitation

They launched the idea of water stewardship that explicitly refers to the HRWS.

Water stewardship also supports broader social and environmental goals, notably the realization of human rights and the anticipated Sustainable Development Goals. By implementing water stewardship, companies inherently advance these broader objectives. However, there are also some critical considerations to keep in mind to ensure that stewardship practice aligns with efforts to advance these broader goals.

Ensuring that human rights are upheld and protected is a key consideration embedded throughout the Water Stewardship Progression. You do this primarily by actively respecting human rights, according to the UN Guiding Principles. First, you meet basic responsibilities of providing WASH services in their workplaces and ensuring their activities do not infringe on communities’ rights by identifying and responding to identified impacts. You can then move on to support initiatives that actively fulfill human rights.

Contributing to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals

Water is also a critical component of the anticipated Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. In fact, water and sanitation are expected to form a dedicated goal in the upcoming SDGs because of its great importance and the degree to which it informs and supports the realization of many other critical development goals. Your company can actively support these efforts through water stewardship.

A practical example of water stewardship:

Watch the video: Clean Water It’s A Human Right telling the story of a project funded by the pepsico foundation in Colombia.

10. Discussion: private companies and the HRWS

Watch this video summarising the main points of the section and compare them with your notes.

11. Concluding remarks

Now you can watch this video, recalling and comparing the main elements of the three approaches presented above, in order to present the main point of the submodule: the human right to water is a contested idea; the way this right is conceptualised has practical consequences and influences on the way this right and equity in its enjoyment are promoted and supported. Particular conceptualisations of the right to water legitimise specific political projects and actions.

12. Final greetings

Key Readings

Discussion Questions

  • Which are the issues identified as the most pressing issues in relation to the right to water and sanitation?
  • Which are the solutions?
  • How is the HRWS related to these solutions?
  • How does the video represent the people entitled to the right to water and sanitation? Which geographical and social contexts do they seem to belong to?
  • What kind of solution and actions are envisaged to achieve SDG6 targets and the HRWS?
  • How does Ms. De Albuquerque conceive of the added value of the human right approach in the SDGs compared to the MDGs?
  • How does Ms. De Albuquerque conceive of the implications of the human right approach when addressing issues of equality and inequality?
  • Which are the issues identified as main problems/obstacles to the achievement of the Human right to water and sanitation?
  • How are equity issues presented and addressed by the water activists?
  • What kind of solution and actions are envisaged to achieve the HRWS?
  • How are right holders presented?

Quiz

Further Readings 

This submodule has been developed by Dr. Emanuele Fantini. Emanuele works as senior researcher at UNESCO-IHE. His main research project “Visualising waters, unveiling powers in Ethiopia” analyses the consequences of current processes of state formation, development and economic growth in terms of contested water governance and water justice in Ethiopia.

Other related International Waters Lessons and Submodules

Submodule 3: Financing Access (Mireia Tutusaus-Luque)

Learning Objectives

  • Deliberate on the role that finance plays in achieving access.
  • Recognize the trends in finance in the water sector.
  • Identify different financing approaches in the water sector and their potentials and limitations.
  • Reflect on the roles of public and private actors in financing access

Key Concepts

Financing approaches, public and private finance, traditional and alternative mechanisms 

This submodule highlights the relationship between financing and access to water. In exploring that relationship the session covers the trends of financial mechanisms in the water sector (public and private funds) and how these strategies impact equitable access to water for all.

In this, more or less, one-hour submodule we have put together several materials around widely spoken topics such as Finance and Finance for increased Access to (water and sanitation) Services. We briefly introduce the logic of talking about Finance when discussing increased access, and review a few of the latest trends in the sector. Our aim for this submodule is to bring together several discussion points under this topic and raise questions related to the latest trends in the sector that we believe remain relevant in increasing access to services, but to also make sure that that access is provided in an equitable manner, in view of the implementation of the SDGs (SDG6: ensure access to water and sanitation for all in an equitable manner). This is just an appetizer, there is a lot of material available online, we hope these thoughts trigger your search for more sources to enhance the discussion!

We hope you enjoy it!

1. Financing Access: Why is it important?

The following presentation discusses the importance of financing in relation to water access. In order to help your understanding, you might want to consider noting down the key points mentioned in the video.

2. Practical case

3. From traditional sources to new ‘actors’

In the previous section we have been introduced to the needs for water financing. In this section we will discuss different sources of finance that have and are used in the sector.

To start have a look at this presentation:

international-waters_from-traditional-sources-to-new-actorsInternational-Waters_From-traditional-sources-to-new-actors

The three main ideas contained in the presentation are:

  • Traditional mechanisms of financing the water sector were based on the so called 3Ts.
  • However they are not enough to cover all investments needed.
  • Alternative financing strategies are being developed

 

Concluding reflections

As a closure to the submodule, the following clip might give you a glimpse on how the future of financing in the water sector will look like:

“The World Bank Group brought together development organizations, governments, the private sector and civil society to discuss what it will take to finance development in a post-2015 world. The discussion showcased the latest thinking on domestic resource mobilization, private sector leverage, and development financing mechanisms, solutions and initiatives that go beyond filling financing gaps.”

This PowerPoint presentation summarizes and reflects on the main ideas discussed in this submodule:

reflectionsInternational-Waters_Reflections

Quiz

Key Readings

 

Discussion Questions

  • What is it that needs to be financed? Why? Who is financing it?
  • What are the positive and negative sides in each of the cases?
Further Readings

This submodule has been put together by Mireia Tutusaus Luque. Mireia  is a Lecturer in Water Services Management in the Department of Integrated Water Systems and Governance at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. She has experience in the private sector, in retail banking and the chemical industry before she started a career in education and training in the field of Water Services and Management. Her main area of expertise is the development and analysis of business and governance models of the provision of drinking water services in urban areas, with a specific interest on financial sustainability and financial implications of infrastructural development. She has supported and coordinated the development of training programs as part of the educational activities at the Institute, as well as external projects in the field of Water Services in various countries in Asia and Africa.

Other related International Waters Lessons and Submodules

Submodule 4: Equity and participation on water access (Cecilia Alda-Vidal)

Learning Objectives

  • Explain the concept of participation from various perspectives
  • Discuss the issues and concerns related to participation
  • Analyze participatory processes
    Key Concepts
     Participation, communities, stakeholders, empowerment, inclusion

1. Why do we talk about participation in the water sector?

In this submodule we will pay a critical gaze to the concept of participation and how it has been used in the water sector to understand its potentials and limitations for equitable water access.

To get introduced to the topic of participation in water management watch the sections 1-5 of the webinar “Participation” of the E-Learing Module on Integrated Water Resources Management. It provides an overview of how participation has been institutionalized in the water sector, the rationales and benefits for participation as well as possible shortcomings , and the types and methods of participation normally used in the water sector.

Some of the reasons for introducing community or stakeholders participation in in any water project are:

  • Decisions taken in a participatory way  better reflect the real needs and concerns of the different actors involved in the process
  • Participation leads to sustainability  as the different actors involved will feel ownership of the outcomes if they have been involved in the decision making process
  • Participation leads to social justice and the empowerment of the actors involved in the process

2. A critical view to community participation in water.

There has been a more critical approach to participation in the international development and water sectors. The article written by Frances Cleaver in 1999, Paradoxes of participation: questioning participatory approaches to development provides a good example of this. According to her,

“Participation has become an act of faith in development; something we believe in and rarely question”

but as she says:

“despite significant claims to the contrary, there is little evidence of the long-term effectiveness of participation of materially improving the conditions of the most vulnerable people or as a strategy for social change”

Read section 1 of the article and summarize the idea behind the paradox of Efficiency and Empowerment of participatory projects.

You can access the full paper through IRC website.

In the following clip she further discusses how community participation has been institutionalized in water management projects.

3. Practical cases

The following two videos provide real examples of participation in the water sector. The first clip is documentary made by UNESCO-IHE Water Management students about Public Participation in Coastal Zone Management in the Netherlands. The second clip presents the lessons and experiences from the Project Enhancing Community Participation in Water Governance of Water and Sanitation Service Delivery in Rural Gwanda District, Zimbabwe

Watch both clips and reflect about what you have learnt in the previous sections. Keeping in mind the following questions: Who is made to participate in the projects? Why? How is participation envisioned? Whose voice is included and whose might have been excluded? Why?

 

Key Readings

  • In addition, this policy brief   published on-line by the International Water Centre discusses how the ideas of “public participation” and “community engagement” have been adopted and applied in the water sector.

Discussion Questions

  • Who is made to participate in the different projects? Why? How is participation envisioned? Whose voice is included and whose might have been excluded? Why?

Quiz

 

Further Readings

  • Abers, R. (2007) ‘Organizing for Governance: Building Collaboration in Brazilian River Basins’, World Development, 35(8): 1450-1463
    • Eversole, Robyn (2003) ‘Managing the Pitfalls of Participatory Development: Some Insight from Australia’ World Development, 31(5): 781–795.
    • Fung A. (2006) ‘Varieties of participation in complex governance.’ Public Administration Review 66(s1): 66–75.
    • Mayoux, L. (1995) ‘Beyond Naivety: Women, Gender Inequality and Participatory Development’ Development and Change, 26: 235-258.

Submodule 5: Gender and water access (Cecilia Alda-Vidal)

Learning Objectives

    • Describe some of the key main questions of gender in the water sector
    • Define the importance of gender (along other social inequalities) in shaping equitable water access

Key Concepts

Gender, rights and responsibilities, social inequalities, intersectionality, 

This submodule provides an introduction to gender in relation to equitable access to water. It presents an introduction to gender social relations and how they matter (along other social inequalities) for equitable water access.

1.Gender and water: the basics To get started with the topic you can take this Implicit Association Test about Gender, after completing it take a few moments to reflect about your answers and score.Now have a look at Topics 1 and 2 of this PowerPoint presentation.

inclusivewashgender_webinarslidesfinalInclusive Wash: Gender

2. Panel discussion

The following clip is a recording of a gender session for and on-line course on water in which four experts on gender and water discuss different gender questions and solutions in water.

The discussion in the video goes around three main issues:

  • Gender gap in terms of rights and responsibilities in water
  • Male dominance in the water sector and expertise
  • Technocratic way of looking at water

3. Practical cases

The following two videos provide real examples of the gender and water issues that have been discussed in this submodule. Watch the clips and reflect about what you have learned in the previous sections.

The first video “Our lives… our lanes” is the result of an action research project ‘Women’s Rights and Access to Water and Sanitation in Asian Cities (2009-2011)’, a joint initiative of Jagori, Delhi and Women In Cities International, Canada with support from the International Development Research Centre, Canada. This short film highlights key issues of women’s access to essential services like water, sanitation, electricity, drainage and lack of safety for women and girls living in a mix of public-private spaces in resettlement.

The second video “Gender dimensions in land and water: Experiences from the field” provides an overview of an FAO project in Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, and East Timor that works to increase men’s and women’s security of land tenure, as well as access to water and other natural resources.

Key Readings

  • Crow, B., & Sultana, F. (2002). Gender, class, and access to water: Three cases in a poor and crowded delta. Society &Natural Resources, 15(8), 709-724. You can access to it from Prof. Farhana Sultana website or clicking here.

Discussion Questions

  • What is gender?
  • Why do we need to think about gender in water projects and interventions?
  • Why is gender important for equitable access to water?
  • Can you summarize the main points of the panel conversation in relation to the three themes pointed above?

Quiz

Further Readings and Resources

There are lots of resources available online to continue learning about water and gender, if you wish to know more you can have a look at the following websites.

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