Women and Water Policies event Istanbul
During the second Istanbul International Water Week, held from 3 – 6 May 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey, BPW, Women for Water and Soroptimists International Turkey organised a side event on women and water policies.
A very well organised and attended meeting, speeches and presentations were given by ‘water ladies’ from Turkey and around the globe. Among them were Women for Water Chair Alice Bouman-Dentener, Lesha Witmer in her capacity as chair of the BPW International standing committee on sustainable development & water, and Arzu Ozyol, President of BPW Turkey and delegate to WfWP.
As Arzu Ozyol, Alice Bouman-Dentener stressed the importance of active participation of women in water management. She referred back to the Dublin Principles from 1992: “Women play a central role in the supply, management and safeguarding of water”, Alice Bouman-Dentener said. As an example, she spoke of the project of the Tegemeo women’s organisation in Tanzania and how taking the initiative for safe drinking water supply for their community has led to significant empowerment of those women. In her presentation [ 500 kB], Lesha Witmer elaborated on the importance of modern legislation regarding ‘water’ and sanitation. She also spoke of the things women themselves can do to reduce, recycle, re-use and re-allocate water.
BPW Federation Turkey and Soroptimists are both founding member organisations of Women for Water Partnership. Together with other women’s organisations from the region, they organized a successful pre-conference as prelude to the World Water Forum of 2009, and stayed active on water issues. The Water & Women Platform of Turkey, which was formed as a result of the pre-conference in 2009, also organised a meeting later in the second Istanbul International Water Week.
During the second Istanbul International Water Week, held from 3 – 6 May 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey, BPW, Women for Water and Soroptimists International Turkey organised a side event on women and water policies.
A very well organised and attended meeting, speeches and presentations were given by ‘water ladies’ from Turkey and around the globe. Among them were Women for Water Chair Alice Bouman-Dentener, Lesha Witmer in her capacity as chair of the BPW International standing committee on sustainable development & water, and Arzu Ozyol, President of BPW Turkey and delegate to WfWP.
As Arzu Ozyol, Alice Bouman-Dentener stressed the importance of active participation of women in water management. She referred back to the Dublin Principles from 1992: “Women play a central role in the supply, management and safeguarding of water”, Alice Bouman-Dentener said. As an example, she spoke of the project of the Tegemeo women’s organisation in Tanzania and how taking the initiative for safe drinking water supply for their community has led to significant empowerment of those women. In her presentation [ 500 kB], Lesha Witmer elaborated on the importance of modern legislation regarding ‘water’ and sanitation. She also spoke of the things women themselves can do to reduce, recycle, re-use and re-allocate water.
BPW Federation Turkey and Soroptimists are both founding member organisations of Women for Water Partnership. Together with other women’s organisations from the region, they organized a successful pre-conference as prelude to the World Water Forum of 2009, and stayed active on water issues. The Water & Women Platform of Turkey, which was formed as a result of the pre-conference in 2009, also organised a meeting later in the second Istanbul International Water Week.
