Presented at the 12th meeting of the OECD Water Governance Initiative, on 20 - 21 June, 2019 in Berlin, Germany

1. WOMEN-INCLUSIVE
GOVERNANCE
RESEARCH PROJECT WFWP AND OECD
(PHASE 1)
LESHA WITMER, WOMEN FOR WATER PARTNERSHIP
FUNDED BY BMW/ GIZ, GERMANY

2. THE AIM
assess the IMPACT of the inclusion of women in
water governance processes, both formal and
informal
•in decision-making processes within organisations
that include more women in governance in all
aspects of water management (SDG6 + targets)
•and the outcomes of decision-making processes
with regard to for instance policy design, budget
allocations, etc.
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 2

3. THE ISSUE
•Issues of women’s participation, gender equality
and its impact in the governance of water have
received insufficient attention to date in both the
research and practice literature,
•yet action is happening on the ground. Women
play key roles in generating change in the way
water is used, shared, and allocated, from local
to transnational levels
•and in spite of legal, regulatory and institutional
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 3

4. MAIN CONCLUSIONS DESK RESEARCH SO
FAR
• lack of data, information and analysis and therefore,
insufficient knowledge on the state of women’s
participation in the water sector, be it public, private or
civil society organisations.
• very little data about the number of women in the
water-sector and their decision-making power, which
points to underrepresentation of women in the water
sector, both in the public and private spheres; They are
missing in key areas of water-related decision-making
• Little research has been done to assess the impact of
the inclusion of women in water governance processes,
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 4

5. MAIN CONCLUSIONS DESK RESEARCH SO
FAR
•Publications state a persistent gender gap in
water management leadership at all levels of
governance in a wide range of public and private
organisation re. water supply and sanitation,
water resources management, irrigation,
transboundary governance, hydropower, etc.
•Women are rarely involved in decisions relating
to water policies and strategies, water resource
management, or tariff setting and technology
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 5

6. MAIN CONCLUSIONS SO FAR
• Women’ s opportunities in areas of decision-making
that parallel their stereotype traditional roles as
nurturers and caregivers in the domestic sphere. In
most parliaments, women are usually given roles in
committees for social concerns, disadvantaged groups,
and culture.
• Women often play a more influential role in informal
decision-making processes in the water sector – but
this is hardly documented.
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 6

7. MAIN CONCLUSIONS SO FAR
• local level case (NGO) studies about the inclusion of
women in water management: role of women as users
and sharers of water is not sufficiently recognized.
• Their knowledge about water is rarely appreciated ,
leading to restricted contribution to key governance
processes.
• linked to constrained rights to resources such as land
and other productive resources, which limit economic
opportunities.
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019
7

8. MAIN CONCLUSIONS SO FAR
• Where women have been involved in formal and
informal decision-making related to water, benefits
have been achieved such as increased policy attention
to social and environmental benefits as well as
improved economic outcomes for women and their
families and women’s empowerment in other realms
(i.e. participation in local elections, etc.,).
• Women tend to have better representation in “more
alternative structures” particularly NGOs and grass
roots organizations, which often are at the periphery of
the political mainstream.
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 8

9. MAIN CONCLUSIONS SO FAR
• Little evidence exists about the role of women within
civil society organisations related to water. Though
these organisations are important agents in collecting
data and information about women-inclusive
governance in the water sector, the role of women in
these organisations has not been researched.
• National and local water governance frameworks are not
evolving fast enough to genuinely drive gender equality,
resulting in less meaningful participation of women than
men in formal water governance processes
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 9

10. MAIN MESSAGES; ISSUES TO INCORPORATE
• Stereotypes and cultural norms about the roles or
women impede their meaningful participation in local
to transboundary water governance institutions and
processes, which overlay already existing gender-
unequal governance systems around land, natural
resources and economic planning;
• Land and resource tenure and inheritance laws that
restrict or prohibit women’s access to resources –
including to water - curtail productive opportunities
for women as well as their role and visibility in national
and transboundary economies.
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 10

11. EXISTING RESEARCH MAINLY FROM
BUSINESS COMMUNITY (GENERIC)
• greater participation by women as entrepreneurs goes
beyond the benefits of employment, economic
empowerment and equal access to resources and
productive inputs. It puts women buyers in direct and
continuous contact with women sellers who have
information to share e.g. in their role as managers of
household water
• Balanced management teams tend to decide faster,
higher quality, balancing interests
• Special measures have to be taken by organisations
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 11

12. WHY WOMEN’S ROLES ARE OVERLOOKED
AND SHOULD NOT BE
• Their deep practical experience and innovation in use
and sharing of the resource;
• Their ensuing technical and socio-cultural knowledge
about the resource;
• Their ability to disseminate and contribute their
knowledge towards cooperative solutions;
• The value of their leadership, and their meaningful role
in cooperative planning and decision-making to drive
change
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 12

13. NEXT STEPS
•Invite other organizations to join
•Call for more existing research (not published)
•Survey to fill data gap (national, basin level)
•(limited) in-dept interviews on impacts
•Case collection and analysis
PRESENTATION-OECD WGI, JUNE2019 13