August 2017: The Global Water Partnership (GWP) has released an Action Piece titled, ‘Gender Equality and Inclusion in Water Resources Management.’ GWP describes the publication as an “evidence-based call to action” to build more equitable, inclusive and sustainable societies. The Action Piece was released in conjunction with World Water Week 2017.

The Action Piece derives from a literature review, interviews with 14 global experts, and a ‘High-Level Meeting for Gender Equality and Social Inclusion’ in integrated water resources management (IWRM) that brought together 25 experts. According to GWP, 39 people were consulted from 25 organizations in water governance, water management, gender equality, and inclusion policy and practice.

The publication presents four ‘Action Areas,’ and for each Area, poses questions that can drive practice as well as recommendations. The Action Areas include: institutional leadership and commitment (make gender equality and inclusion a core business goal); gender and inclusion analysis that drives change (conduct gender and inclusion analysis at all levels); meaningful and inclusive participation in decision making and partnership (adopt a ‘nothing about them without them’ approach); and equal access to and control of resources (create a level playing field with respect to access and control of resources).

For Action Area 1 on institutional leadership and commitment, the case study addresses managing Nile Basin resources from a gender perspective, while for the second Action Area on gender and inclusion analysis, the corresponding case study looks at the gender-related impacts of water supply interventions in north-west India. For the third Action Area on inclusive participation in decision making, the corresponding case study focuses on lessons learned from the Brazilian semi-arid experience of gender inclusion in water management. Finally, the fourth case study for the Action Area on equal access and control of resources discusses gender and water policies in Africa.

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) is a network with over 3,000 partner organizations in 183 countries. The network has 86 ‘Country Water Partnerships’ and 13 ‘Regional Water Partnerships.’ The GWP released a number of publications in coordination with World Water Week, which is being held in Stockholm, Sweden, from 27 August to 1 September 2017. [Gender Equality and Inclusion in Water Resources Management] [GWP Activities and Publications at World Water Week]