NetWwater launches Women Leadership program
The latest NetWwater project is a training and empowerment program for women community leaders involved in water resources management at grassroots level in rural Sri Lanka. “We plan for eight such programs by March 2013, including at least three programs in the former conflict areas”, NetWwater chair Kusum Athukorala says (first on the left in the picture). “Discussions on gender and water, female headed households (23% in Sri Lanka right now), water quality and alternate irrigation for home gardens will take over where once mortars, land mines and AK47s reigned.”
For the Jalavahini program, NetWwater has teamed up with leading garment manufacturer Brandix Lanka Ltd and collaborates with community based organisations since they are responsible for a sixth of the country’s water supply. The first training program was ceremonially inaugurated by Water Supply and Drainage minister Dinesh Gunawardena (second from the left in the picture). He had earlier been an active participant in women and water advocacy at the Womens Prep Conference at the recently concluded World Water Forum 6 in Marseille. (Read the full WfWP report here.)
In Sri Lanka, women play a significant but invisible role in the water sector: in water supply and sanitation, ecosystem management, irrigation and irrigated agriculture. This has become increasingly apparent, especially since the female population in Sri Lanka (52.8%) now outnumbers the male proportion of the population, with female-headed households rising to 23%. As such, women are bearing the brunt of the costs related to water insecurity and overall, women’s productivity is constrained due to limited access to and involvement in decision-making related to water.
Read more about the gender-specific approach and the program in this gender briefing note by NetWwater chair Kusum Athukorala. “Global is good for the ego. Local is where we need go”, she says. “This is our continuing contribution to the Third Dublin Rio Principle and Rio+20.” The Sri Lanka Daily Mirror published an article on the program. You can read it online.
The latest NetWwater project is a training and empowerment program for women community leaders involved in water resources management at grassroots level in rural Sri Lanka. “We plan for eight such programs by March 2013, including at least three programs in the former conflict areas”, NetWwater chair Kusum Athukorala says (first on the left in the picture). “Discussions on gender and water, female headed households (23% in Sri Lanka right now), water quality and alternate irrigation for home gardens will take over where once mortars, land mines and AK47s reigned.”
For the Jalavahini program, NetWwater has teamed up with leading garment manufacturer Brandix Lanka Ltd and collaborates with community based organisations since they are responsible for a sixth of the country’s water supply. The first training program was ceremonially inaugurated by Water Supply and Drainage minister Dinesh Gunawardena (second from the left in the picture). He had earlier been an active participant in women and water advocacy at the Womens Prep Conference at the recently concluded World Water Forum 6 in Marseille. (Read the full WfWP report here.)
In Sri Lanka, women play a significant but invisible role in the water sector: in water supply and sanitation, ecosystem management, irrigation and irrigated agriculture. This has become increasingly apparent, especially since the female population in Sri Lanka (52.8%) now outnumbers the male proportion of the population, with female-headed households rising to 23%. As such, women are bearing the brunt of the costs related to water insecurity and overall, women’s productivity is constrained due to limited access to and involvement in decision-making related to water.
Read more about the gender-specific approach and the program in this gender briefing note by NetWwater chair Kusum Athukorala. “Global is good for the ego. Local is where we need go”, she says. “This is our continuing contribution to the Third Dublin Rio Principle and Rio+20.” The Sri Lanka Daily Mirror published an article on the program. You can read it online.
