African Water Development Report 2006 - United Nations Economic ...

African Water Development Report 2006Box 5.6Gender and Water Resources Management – Mainstreaming Gender in Africa’s Water Policies, Programmesand ProjectsLimited access to water and sanitation by women results in health hazards to the population. The time spentfetching water results in low school attendance for girls, limited income-generating opportunity for women andincreased levels of food insecurity. The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) therefore recognizes theneed to promote gender mainstreaming in water resources management 1 as part of the challenge to guaranteeaccess to water for all and to reduce by halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access tosafe drinking water and basic sanitation (target 10 of the Millennium Development Goals). During the Pan-AfricanImplementation and Partnership Conference on Water in December 2003, in Addis Ababa, the Ministers committedthemselves to ensuring that gender concerns are taken into account in policy formulation in all sectors ofwater, sanitation, human settlements, agriculture and food security, including the harmonization of policies andlaws and the domestication of international treaties in order to create equity and equality by 2025.Through the adoption of the Africa Water Vision 2025, they once more committed themselves to mainstreaminggender concerns in Africa’s country water activities. Women are explicitly encouraged to take on key positionsand functions in decision making on water issues and adequate stakeholder involvement, particularly by womenand youth, in water resources management is encouraged. The Beijing Platform for Action, which was adoptedby all United Nations member States during the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, further callsfor the integration of women in decision making for sustainable resource management and the promotion ofknowledge on the role, particularly of rural and indigenous women, in food production, irrigation, watershedmanagement, and sanitation.Within the context of these commitments, UN Water/Africa and ECA organized a seminar on Gender and WaterResources Management in Africa in March 2005 to translate these commitments into a 10-year Action Plan forMainstreaming Gender in Africa’s Water Policies, Programmes and Projects. The Action Plan coincides with theInternational Decade for Action ‘Water for Life,’ 2005-2015.Within this decade, the African Water Ministers and their partners are called upon to mainstream gender in integratedwater resources management:(a) To develop and promote practical guidelines to mainstream gender in integrated water resources management;(b) To assess the gender-sensitivity of current national, basin and (sub)regional water policies, programmes,projects, and legislation;(c) To assess the degree of harmonization of water policies and legislation with other government policiesand legislation that affect women and men;(d) To review the gender-sensitiveness of national and (sub)regional water policies, programmes, projects,and legislation and to harmonize them with other government policies and legislation.The Action Plan further calls for the promotion of information and knowledge management systems as thesesystems can support the mainstreaming of gender in the water sector by:(a) Documenting best practices on gender and water resources management;(b) Undertaking gender-sensitive research;(c) Developing gender and water monitoring indicators and monitoring mechanisms;(d) Collecting gender-disaggregated data on water and sanitation;(e) Providing gender training to water experts and providing leadership training to female water experts toencourage their role in decision-making.Contributed by Saskia Stevens. UNECA, Subregional Office, Lusaka114