The road to Dushanbe -Interview with Alice Bouman-Dentener
The road to Dushanbe
On the eve of the Gender Forum, which is organised by Women for Water Partnership (WfWP) at the High Level International Conference on Water Cooperation in Dushanbe, Tajikistan interviews are conducted with key persons within WfWP.
3 Questions to WfWP President Alice Bouman-Dentener on why Gender & Water are intrinsically linked and the Gender Forum is so important for women 's organisations working on water and sanitation.
1.Why has WfWP laboured to organise a separate Gender Forum directly prior to the High Level on Water Cooperation?
While water and gender are intrinsically linked, and the central role of women in the provision, management and safeguarding of water is one of the four Dublin Principles that guide integrated water resources management, in practise, water is largely a technical domain and more often then not, is managed in splendid isolation. The International Year of Water Cooperation – which was initiated by Tajikistan by the way – addresses that critical point. The aim is to bring about the much-needed cooperation, not only between governments of different states that share water resources, but even more so between different sectors (agriculture, energy, economy). And most important: to foster cooperation between the different stakeholders that all share the resource, and with increased use and less availability, will have to share equitably and peacefully.
The women from all over the globe that are cooperating in the Women for Water Partnership share this water vision and are more than willing to take their responsibility: protect, share equitably and use sustainably for the benefit of all.
2. What goals have you set for the Gender Forum?
We want to show the world’s decision-makers that the role of women in water has been ignored for too long and that this has seriously hampered the achievement of the international agreed water-related development goals. By sharing our lessons learned with decision-makers and main actors in the water sector, by exchanging views and jointly establishing an action programme, we aim to accelerate action and contribute to achieving water and sanitation for all. But most importantly, we hope to obtain more support for the splendid work of our women’s civil society groups in about 100 countries of the world, so they will have the means to participate as equal partners and put their social capital to full use. The return on investment of supporting women’s inclusion in water projects is said to be 1:8. So investing in women is smart economics.
3. To you personally, what is the most important aspect of the Gender Forum and, in this light, what are the desired results from the High Level Conference?
The unique possibility to have an exchange across sectors and layers in society. We have Ministers and Presidents at the table together with women civil society leaders, water sector specialists, major development agencies and UN organisations ranging from UNESCO to UN Women and UN Water. And the real situation of women on the ground is the basis for our joined discussion. That has never happened at this scale and level before.
Of course, we hope that many of our lessons learned and our priority areas for action will be included in the outcome document of the High Level conference, in particular in the action plan.
But if countries agree on the importance of taking women civil society on board as equal partner in jointly developed programmes and projects, we will already experience great satisfaction.
In fact, given the level of cooperation in the preparatory phase with UN agencies, government representatives, development agencies and women’s organisations working together in preparing briefs and inputs, water cooperation has already been put in practise. We hope to extend these new partnerships into joint implementation of agreed actions.
The road to Dushanbe
On the eve of the Gender Forum, which is organised by Women for Water Partnership (WfWP) at the High Level International Conference on Water Cooperation in Dushanbe, Tajikistan interviews are conducted with key persons within WfWP.
3 Questions to WfWP President Alice Bouman-Dentener on why Gender & Water are intrinsically linked and the Gender Forum is so important for women 's organisations working on water and sanitation.
1.Why has WfWP laboured to organise a separate Gender Forum directly prior to the High Level on Water Cooperation?
While water and gender are intrinsically linked, and the central role of women in the provision, management and safeguarding of water is one of the four Dublin Principles that guide integrated water resources management, in practise, water is largely a technical domain and more often then not, is managed in splendid isolation. The International Year of Water Cooperation – which was initiated by Tajikistan by the way – addresses that critical point. The aim is to bring about the much-needed cooperation, not only between governments of different states that share water resources, but even more so between different sectors (agriculture, energy, economy). And most important: to foster cooperation between the different stakeholders that all share the resource, and with increased use and less availability, will have to share equitably and peacefully.
The women from all over the globe that are cooperating in the Women for Water Partnership share this water vision and are more than willing to take their responsibility: protect, share equitably and use sustainably for the benefit of all.
2. What goals have you set for the Gender Forum?
We want to show the world’s decision-makers that the role of women in water has been ignored for too long and that this has seriously hampered the achievement of the international agreed water-related development goals. By sharing our lessons learned with decision-makers and main actors in the water sector, by exchanging views and jointly establishing an action programme, we aim to accelerate action and contribute to achieving water and sanitation for all. But most importantly, we hope to obtain more support for the splendid work of our women’s civil society groups in about 100 countries of the world, so they will have the means to participate as equal partners and put their social capital to full use. The return on investment of supporting women’s inclusion in water projects is said to be 1:8. So investing in women is smart economics.
3. To you personally, what is the most important aspect of the Gender Forum and, in this light, what are the desired results from the High Level Conference?
The unique possibility to have an exchange across sectors and layers in society. We have Ministers and Presidents at the table together with women civil society leaders, water sector specialists, major development agencies and UN organisations ranging from UNESCO to UN Women and UN Water. And the real situation of women on the ground is the basis for our joined discussion. That has never happened at this scale and level before.
Of course, we hope that many of our lessons learned and our priority areas for action will be included in the outcome document of the High Level conference, in particular in the action plan.
But if countries agree on the importance of taking women civil society on board as equal partner in jointly developed programmes and projects, we will already experience great satisfaction.
In fact, given the level of cooperation in the preparatory phase with UN agencies, government representatives, development agencies and women’s organisations working together in preparing briefs and inputs, water cooperation has already been put in practise. We hope to extend these new partnerships into joint implementation of agreed actions.
