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2.5 Investing in Women’s Participation for Enhanced Water Security: A Practitioner’s View from Sri Lanka Kusum Athukorala Researcher and Advocacy Specialist, Sri Lanka Chair of NetWwater and the Sri Lanka Water Partnership, Sri Lanka Janeen Fernando Project Assistant, NetWwater, Sri Lanka
Introduction “Our future looks promising but the way there is devious.” - Chinese proverb The global debate on climate change has taken on increasingly sharp concern over water security at all levels. Many definitions of water security are currently in use. The following definition from UNEP (2009: 47) will be used as a base for this paper: “Water security represents a unifying element supplying humanity with drinking water, hygiene and sanitation, food and fish, industrial resources, energy, transportation and natural amenities, all dependent upon maintaining ecosystem health and productivity.” Within this definition, both ecosystems and social well-being are held as being equally essential, and humanity implies the inclusion of both men and women. As such, and as with many other similar statements, it implicitly carries within it gender neutrality. However, the reality in the water sector is that often it is not gender neutral at all; and any attempt to enhance water security needs to be viewed within a gendered perspective, which calls for the study and incorporation of the differential access of women and men to water resources for productive and domestic use. In recent decades, the acceptance of participatory water management methodologies and the greater acceptance of much needed reforms, especially in the water and sanitation sector, have led to attempts to ensure greater involvement of stakeholders, specifically women. This paper draws from experiences of field-based advocacy by civil society and observations of water sector initiatives mainly in Sri Lanka. 1. International Recognition for Women in the Water Sector The dialogue emphasizing the centrality of women to water resources management and water security was initiated in the International Decade for Clean Drinking Water (1981-1990), intensified by the global acceptance of the four Dublin Principles presented at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit (Global Water Partnership, 2012), and further extended by the establishment of the International Water for Life Decade (2005-2015) through a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA, 2004). The central role played by women in the water sector has been enunciated at many international fora, such as the Stockholm Water Symposium, and has been the focus of many international deliberations. Numerous attempts have been made to address gendered issues and engage development through a gendered perspective. Many achievements have especially been made in accepting and promoting the role of women in the water supply sector, but the same level of success cannot be claimed for the irrigation and irrigated agriculture sector. The United Nations Human Rights Council’s affirmation in 2010 of the right to water and sanitation as human rights has further assured water security in a legislative sense (UN Human Rights Council, 2010), but is in itself insufficient to ensure a gendered perspective. The women and water dialogue will continue at the upcoming Rio +20 event in June 2012, at which a Women’s Vision for Sustainable Development will be presented by the Women’s Major Group 1 , highlighting once more the need for greater consensus and concerted action. 2. Water and Women in Sri Lanka In the 21 st century, Asia is expected to face extreme negative impacts from climate change, including: decreased freshwater availability; loss of landscape and natural resources; a substantial reduction in crop yields from rain-fed agriculture, directly affecting food security; all of which come with resultant increasing malnutrition and related diseases. As primary caregivers in the domestic context and major contributors to a predominantly agricultural Asian society, it has therefore become increasingly necessary to review and identify ways of ensuring and optimizing the effective participation of women in water- and climate-related activities. Water and women’s work is synonymous in most parts of Asia. The traditional gendered division of labour in the domestic and the productive sectors has in some instances given way to new developments due to factors such as the feminization 1 The core organisers of the Women’s Major Group for Rio + 20 currently consists of the following: Voices of Africa Women (VAF), Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF), Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) and ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy. See: http://www.womenrio20.org/index.html. Investing in Women’s Participation for Enhanced Water Security: A Practitioner’s View from Sri Lanka Part 2 101
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The Global Water Crisis: Addressing
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About the InterAction Council Estab
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Acknowledgements
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Foreword
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The undeniable seriousness of the g
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Foreword xiii
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The Global Water Crisis: Framing th
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Ethical considerations also need to
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3. Support Ratification of the UN W
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1 Water and Global Security
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Introduction Since the serious stat
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Jury and Vaux project that the numb
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5. The Potential for Conflict and t
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References Cullen, H., 2010. The We
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Introduction Water is an integral p
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shortage Statewide Regional Local N
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summer months. To alleviate the con
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References Department of Energy, 20
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Introduction Water, economic and en
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Economic analyses of ecosystem good
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• Managing for sustainability. De
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Richter, B.D., M.M. Davis, C. Apse
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Introduction Water is an essential
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early post-Cold War period, from a
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2.4. Water, conflicts, and institut
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Renaud et al. (2011) proposed a pre
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Carius, A., D. Tänzler and A. Maas
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Turton, A.R., 2004. “The Evolutio
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Introduction In the West Asia and N
Page 63 and 64: 2. Water in the WANA Region 2.1. De
Page 65 and 66: Following on this, during a persona
Page 67 and 68: Below are some suggestions for how
Page 69 and 70: plants through evapo-transpiration)
Page 71 and 72: WANA Forum, 2010b. Toward Supra-nat
Page 73 and 74: Introduction “The trouble with wa
Page 75 and 76: • Upgrading current water infrast
Page 77 and 78: 60,000 ventilation improved pit lat
Page 79 and 80: 5. The Bottom Line It is widely ack
Page 81: The Blue Economy: Risks and Opportu
Page 84 and 85: 2.1 A Human Development Approach to
Page 86 and 87: apparatus assists nation-states in
Page 88 and 89: By ensuring that the international
Page 90 and 91: 2.2 Water and Health Security Ganes
Page 92 and 93: 1.1. Human-induced Pollutants Domes
Page 94 and 95: Table.1. Water pollutants and human
Page 96 and 97: In many urban and semi-urban areas,
Page 98 and 99: 2.3 Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and
Page 100 and 101: 1. The Impacts of Poor Water, Sanit
Page 102 and 103: 77 64 2015 MDG target Coverage (%)
Page 104 and 105: 3. The Neglect of the WASH Sector a
Page 106 and 107: References Checkley, W., G. Buckley
Page 108 and 109: 2.4 Water, Food and the Development
Page 110 and 111: 2. Keeping Pace with Change Since t
Page 112 and 113: one and has yet to attain widesprea
Page 116 and 117: of agriculture resulting mainly fro
Page 118 and 119: their substantial contribution is p
Page 120 and 121: Although cultural constraints still
Page 122 and 123: UNEP, 2009. Water Security and Ecos
Page 124 and 125: 2.6 Water Governance Reform in Afgh
Page 126 and 127: 1.2. The Extreme risk of food secur
Page 128 and 129: Furthermore, within each basin, lan
Page 130 and 131: 3.2. Early doubts vis-à-vis progre
Page 132 and 133: transboundary water management conc
Page 135 and 136: 3 Will the Right to Water Alleviate
Page 137 and 138: Introduction A growing number of ar
Page 139 and 140: 2. Ethical Perspectives on State Ob
Page 141 and 142: References Barlow, Maude, 2007. Blu
Page 143 and 144: Introduction It is widely recognize
Page 145 and 146: Later in 2010, the UN Human Rights
Page 147 and 148: 3.2. Legislative Recognition Dozens
Page 149 and 150: Mandela, M., 2002. No Water, No Fut
Page 151 and 152: Introduction South Africans have a
Page 153 and 154: water per person per day. The appli
Page 155 and 156: References Bluemel, E. B., 2004.
Page 157 and 158: Introduction Water conflicts are nu
Page 159 and 160: 4. Water Policies and Their Impact
Page 161 and 162: y its interconnection to encompass
Page 163 and 164: Access to Water and Conflict: An In
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Response from the InterAction Counc
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As former U.S. President Mr. Bill C
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The InterAction Council Québec Dec
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List of Participants
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List of Participants: 29 th Annual
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