GWD Conference Chair Barbara Schreiner
As announced in March; WfWP is co-hosting The International Conference Gender-Water-Development (GWD): the untapped connection. This conference will take place in East London, South Africa from November 3 to 7.
Prior to this conference WfWP will be interviewing interesting participants of the conference to share their inspiring and fascinating stories. This week the Conference Chair Barbara Schreiner tells us about her involvement in gender, water and development.
The untapped connection suggest a new paradigm in water development; what does the gender and water nexus mean to you; since when are you involved and how?
I have been involved in issues of water and gender for almost 20 years. Access to water is critical to health, well-being and sustainable livelihoods – that is my main objective. When there is access to water the poor can grow food, run small businesses, create income opportunities as well as have safe water to drink, wash and prepare food. Despite years of discussion on issues of gender, women and female headed households, women are still the poorest of the poor. So it was clear to me that issues like access to water directly intersect with issues of gender and poverty eradication. See short video.
What is the essence of women's contribution in water management?
It is interesting to see that women are often involved in water management at the household level, but in many developing countries when you go up the management ladder you see less and less women involved. And looking at the technical level in catchment areas or at the national level, water management still tends to be mainly male dominated. While women are often seen as custodians of natural resources, they are not involved at the levels where the important decisions are made. This needs to be changed.
What do you expect the GWD international conference to contribute?
I hope that the GWD conference is going to enable us to acquire the necessary experiences from all around the world; and we are aiming to develop practical solutions for the implementation of the AMCOW gender strategy. I also hope that the conference will be the catalyst of an ongoing process that can take forward the implementation of gender mainstreaming in the water sector in Africa. The intention is not that the conference should just be a one-off gathering of people, but that it contributes to a long-term process that will actually see change on the ground. The way this conference has been structured, particularly the last two days of the conference, has been specifically focused on trying to generate ideas from the participants that will allow us to practically take gender mainstreaming forward in the water sector and make a difference on the ground to the lives of the less fortunate women and men.
Why is it so important that South Africa is hosting the GWD Conference?
South Africa is celebrating 20 years of democracy this year. Since 1994 South Africa has championed both gender equality and integrated water resources management. This conference enables South Africa, with a large number of partners from across our continent and the world, to facilitate what we see as an incredibly important discussion, both in South Africa, across Africa, and across all developing countries. During this conference we hope to share our own experiences and to learn from the experiences of others to help to bring about gender equality and development through water.
As announced in March; WfWP is co-hosting The International Conference Gender-Water-Development (GWD): the untapped connection. This conference will take place in East London, South Africa from November 3 to 7.
Prior to this conference WfWP will be interviewing interesting participants of the conference to share their inspiring and fascinating stories. This week the Conference Chair Barbara Schreiner tells us about her involvement in gender, water and development.
The untapped connection suggest a new paradigm in water development; what does the gender and water nexus mean to you; since when are you involved and how?
I have been involved in issues of water and gender for almost 20 years. Access to water is critical to health, well-being and sustainable livelihoods – that is my main objective. When there is access to water the poor can grow food, run small businesses, create income opportunities as well as have safe water to drink, wash and prepare food. Despite years of discussion on issues of gender, women and female headed households, women are still the poorest of the poor. So it was clear to me that issues like access to water directly intersect with issues of gender and poverty eradication. See short video.
What is the essence of women's contribution in water management?
It is interesting to see that women are often involved in water management at the household level, but in many developing countries when you go up the management ladder you see less and less women involved. And looking at the technical level in catchment areas or at the national level, water management still tends to be mainly male dominated. While women are often seen as custodians of natural resources, they are not involved at the levels where the important decisions are made. This needs to be changed.
What do you expect the GWD international conference to contribute?
I hope that the GWD conference is going to enable us to acquire the necessary experiences from all around the world; and we are aiming to develop practical solutions for the implementation of the AMCOW gender strategy. I also hope that the conference will be the catalyst of an ongoing process that can take forward the implementation of gender mainstreaming in the water sector in Africa. The intention is not that the conference should just be a one-off gathering of people, but that it contributes to a long-term process that will actually see change on the ground. The way this conference has been structured, particularly the last two days of the conference, has been specifically focused on trying to generate ideas from the participants that will allow us to practically take gender mainstreaming forward in the water sector and make a difference on the ground to the lives of the less fortunate women and men.
Why is it so important that South Africa is hosting the GWD Conference?
South Africa is celebrating 20 years of democracy this year. Since 1994 South Africa has championed both gender equality and integrated water resources management. This conference enables South Africa, with a large number of partners from across our continent and the world, to facilitate what we see as an incredibly important discussion, both in South Africa, across Africa, and across all developing countries. During this conference we hope to share our own experiences and to learn from the experiences of others to help to bring about gender equality and development through water.
