Gender in Water Partnership
The Asian Development Bank and the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA) will work together to mainstream gender considerations into the water sector operations of ADB's developing member countries (DMCs). The partnership's goal is the achievement of universal access to safe water and sanitation for all, with special emphasis on the needs of women.
A letter of intent was signed in March 2003 as part of the commitments made during the 3rd World Water Forum. The Letter of Agreement that defines the areas for collaboration under the partnership was signed in November 2003.
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SPOTLIGHT
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The partnership builds on the mutually reinforcing and supportive goals of ADB and GWA.
- ADB's Policy on Gender and Development adopted mainstreaming as a key strategy for promoting gender equality.
- ADB's water policy, Water for All, states that "ADB will promote the integration of gender concerns in policy, plans, programs and projects"
- GWA's programs focus on assisting and encouraging governments to incorporate gender equity practices into legislation, policies and decision-making processes
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- Operations review: GWA will assess the extent to which ADB water operations have mainstreamed gender into the design of investment projects and into provision of advisory assistance to DMCs. The assessment will take the form of a Gender Scan which will be guided by an overall framework that links water and gender, poverty reduction and environmental management
- Advisory service: GWA shall provide specific support, in advisory capacity, to ADB staff on a need-basis
- Pilot and/or demonstration activities: These will include concrete activities that ADB and GWA will jointly undertake to test, document, demonstrate and replicate good gender practice in water projects
- Training: This will involve specific training activities that GWA and ADB will develop as part of capacity building on water and gender for ADB its developing member countries
- Joint publication: This will involve one or more joint ADB-GWA publications to showcase good ADB gender-mainstreaming water projects
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| Gender in Pilot and Demonstration Activities |
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GWA and ADB are looking into possibilities of assisting India's Self Help Women's Association (SEWA) to develop the skills of their women members in the use of communication tools. This will enable them to
- present their problems better to official bodies
- write their action plans with more clarity
- articulate their demands for participation and decision-making in water management
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