The road to Dushanbe - Interview with Diana Iskreva
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 organizing the Gender Forum.
3 Questions to Diana Iskreva, Gender Forum Director and WfWP representative in the international steering committee of the High Level
Who have you invited and why?
WfWP invited large number of women water professionals and civil society activists from everywhere the world to take part in the Gender Forum - Empowerment of Women: Foundation for Successful Transnational Water Cooperation. The Forum is an integral part of the UN International High-level Conference on Water Cooperation. During the UN Year of Water Cooperation, it was important for us to mobilize the efforts and to raise the messages of female politicians, UN officials, researchers, professionals, NGOs and civil-society organisations on four main themes linked to water cooperation: human development, economic benefits, ecosystems and across boundary issues.
Women ministers of water and high-rank UN officials will be working in joint panels with civil society activists to highlight issues of mutual concern on water cooperation and management, will share lessons learnt and will exchange tools and approaches that made a difference to safer water and sanitation services for communities and families with various economic, educational and cultural background.
We shall have among us women with vast political influence and female community activists from remote rural communities, as well as men who understand the importance of gender balanced decisions and equitable participation of women, men and youth. We are encouraging the participants to work together to develop and implement solutions that will directly improve the water and sanitation management for real communities on reality cases.
What have been the challenges of getting this diverse international team of participants in Dushanbe?
It has always amazed me that we all everywhere in the world have equal values and priorities. Clean drinking water, good sanitation and hygiene status of households and schools, equitable access to water-related services, healthy conditions for our children, support for disadvantaged persons, fair attitude to ecosystems and nature – we all care about these and work persistently to make the world a better place for our communities, families and children.
It is never easy to be able to raise funds to gather together more than 150 women to discuss their water issues and achievements in water and sanitation management. In the case with the Gender Forum, we had the understanding and full support of Tajik government, UNDP, Swiss Development and Cooperation, UN Women, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, etc. We have a great local coordinator – OXFAM Tajikistan, and a number of experienced and devoted partners - United Nations Office to support the International Decade for Action: “Water for Life” 2005 2015/UN Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication, the World Water Assessment Programme, UN Women, UNU-INWEH, etc.
What makes Gender Forum unique for you personally?
For me personally, it is an unique opportunity to support a number of member-organisations of the Partnerships to make the issues they face and the efforts they put every day for the improvement of water and sanitation practices in their countries and communities visible and better understood by the global community of water decision-makers, financial institutions, as well as for people outside of water and sanitation sector. As the Forum Director, I strived to bring each participant and provide room for each issue they are desperate to raise and each success they are eager to share. I believe, it will be a very successful Gender Forum.
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 organizing the Gender Forum.
3 Questions to Diana Iskreva, Gender Forum Director and WfWP representative in the international steering committee of the High Level
Who have you invited and why?
WfWP invited large number of women water professionals and civil society activists from everywhere the world to take part in the Gender Forum - Empowerment of Women: Foundation for Successful Transnational Water Cooperation. The Forum is an integral part of the UN International High-level Conference on Water Cooperation. During the UN Year of Water Cooperation, it was important for us to mobilize the efforts and to raise the messages of female politicians, UN officials, researchers, professionals, NGOs and civil-society organisations on four main themes linked to water cooperation: human development, economic benefits, ecosystems and across boundary issues.
Women ministers of water and high-rank UN officials will be working in joint panels with civil society activists to highlight issues of mutual concern on water cooperation and management, will share lessons learnt and will exchange tools and approaches that made a difference to safer water and sanitation services for communities and families with various economic, educational and cultural background.
We shall have among us women with vast political influence and female community activists from remote rural communities, as well as men who understand the importance of gender balanced decisions and equitable participation of women, men and youth. We are encouraging the participants to work together to develop and implement solutions that will directly improve the water and sanitation management for real communities on reality cases.
What have been the challenges of getting this diverse international team of participants in Dushanbe?
It has always amazed me that we all everywhere in the world have equal values and priorities. Clean drinking water, good sanitation and hygiene status of households and schools, equitable access to water-related services, healthy conditions for our children, support for disadvantaged persons, fair attitude to ecosystems and nature – we all care about these and work persistently to make the world a better place for our communities, families and children.
It is never easy to be able to raise funds to gather together more than 150 women to discuss their water issues and achievements in water and sanitation management. In the case with the Gender Forum, we had the understanding and full support of Tajik government, UNDP, Swiss Development and Cooperation, UN Women, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, etc. We have a great local coordinator – OXFAM Tajikistan, and a number of experienced and devoted partners - United Nations Office to support the International Decade for Action: “Water for Life” 2005 2015/UN Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication, the World Water Assessment Programme, UN Women, UNU-INWEH, etc.
What makes Gender Forum unique for you personally?
For me personally, it is an unique opportunity to support a number of member-organisations of the Partnerships to make the issues they face and the efforts they put every day for the improvement of water and sanitation practices in their countries and communities visible and better understood by the global community of water decision-makers, financial institutions, as well as for people outside of water and sanitation sector. As the Forum Director, I strived to bring each participant and provide room for each issue they are desperate to raise and each success they are eager to share. I believe, it will be a very successful Gender Forum.
