WfWP: preparing for Rio+20
As strategic partner of UN-Water, the Women for Water Partnership closely interacts with the UN Water Secretariat in the preparation for the World Summit Rio+20 in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro. In this context, WfWP President Alice Bouman-Dentener addressed women’s role in water and food security during the UN Water panel on the opening day of the Bonn nexus conference.
Water and food security for the poor: a prerequisite for their empowerment and active contribution to society
Ms Bouman-Dentener spoke primarily on water and food security for the poor as a prerequisite for their empowerment and active contribution to society. Alice Bouman gave examples of how local women, when given the means and supported by their peers, take the lead in organising their communities, working with (local) authorities and taking an active role in their own development. Having a say in the provision of water and sanitation proves to be an effective tool for women’s empowerment and subsequent social development and economic self-reliance.
For women in their daily lives, water, energy and food are intrinsically linked and not addressed in isolation
On the water-energy-food nexus Ms Bouman-Dentener explained that for the women in their daily lives, these issues are intrinsically linked and not addressed in isolation: “Women for Water aims for sustainable livelihoods. Whether the entry point is water and through water and sanitation we get at food and energy, or the other way around, depends largely on the specific local circumstances. Often however, it is water and sanitation first. For water is life, and sanitation is dignity.”
The Bonn conference ‘the Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus: Solutions for a Green Economy’ was co-organised by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nucleair Safety and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany in close cooperation with IFPRI, WWF and the World Economic Forum. Aim of the conference was to create concrete solutions and intersectoral cooperation in preparation for Rio+20.
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As strategic partner of UN-Water, the Women for Water Partnership closely interacts with the UN Water Secretariat in the preparation for the World Summit Rio+20 in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro. In this context, WfWP President Alice Bouman-Dentener addressed women’s role in water and food security during the UN Water panel on the opening day of the Bonn nexus conference.
Water and food security for the poor: a prerequisite for their empowerment and active contribution to society
Ms Bouman-Dentener spoke primarily on water and food security for the poor as a prerequisite for their empowerment and active contribution to society. Alice Bouman gave examples of how local women, when given the means and supported by their peers, take the lead in organising their communities, working with (local) authorities and taking an active role in their own development. Having a say in the provision of water and sanitation proves to be an effective tool for women’s empowerment and subsequent social development and economic self-reliance.
For women in their daily lives, water, energy and food are intrinsically linked and not addressed in isolation
On the water-energy-food nexus Ms Bouman-Dentener explained that for the women in their daily lives, these issues are intrinsically linked and not addressed in isolation: “Women for Water aims for sustainable livelihoods. Whether the entry point is water and through water and sanitation we get at food and energy, or the other way around, depends largely on the specific local circumstances. Often however, it is water and sanitation first. For water is life, and sanitation is dignity.”
The Bonn conference ‘the Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus: Solutions for a Green Economy’ was co-organised by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nucleair Safety and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany in close cooperation with IFPRI, WWF and the World Economic Forum. Aim of the conference was to create concrete solutions and intersectoral cooperation in preparation for Rio+20.
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