Gender Practice in Water Governance Programmes – From Design to Results

Due to the heavy focus on engineering in most water and sanitation sector interventions, the integration of social concerns is challenging. It is not uncommon for gender issues to be seen as irrelevant or marginal. Even for projects that are ostensibly committed to gender mainstreaming, the lack of high-level support and resource allocation, compounded by the lack of experience and accountability mechanisms, make it difficult to turn gender-related knowledge into practice.

The report finds that to achieve important advances in gender equality within the governance of water and sanitation, organisations and agencies need to review not only their own structures and practices, but also to develop a better understanding of the underlying power dynamics and structural barriers that reinforce gender inequalities. This would imply strategies with greater focus on women’s solidarity and collective action, and the inclusion of men and boys in the work towards changing values, attitudes and gender relations. Whereas a thorough gender analysis and mainstreaming of gender issues into programme design is a good starting point, to ensure a committed leadership and the involvement of gender expertise is essential to institute substantive gender-related focus and activities into the programme.