Gender Mainstreaming at the Policy-Level

Following on from my previous post, I have decided to adopt a “top-down” approach to the issue. In other words, I will start by looking at “gender mainstreaming” at the policy level and will then go on to explore case studies/media pieces which illustrate how these best-practice policies are being effectively implemented at the local scale (or not in some cases…). 

The importance and value of including both men and women in the overall management of water and sanitation supplies has been at the forefront of public policy debate since the 1970s, when the UN hosted its Water Conference at Mar del Plata.

This was duly followed by the International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade (1981-90) and the International Conference on Water and Environment in Dublin (1992), alongside numerous references in implementation plans and resolutions such as Agenda 211.

Arguably the most important resolution, or at least the most publicised one, was the UN’s Water for Life Decade (2005-2015) which appeals to the involvement of women in water-related development efforts and coincided with the Millennium Development Goals - more on this in the chart below). 

More recent (and exciting) trends include a rise in the number of women appointed as water ministers, including H.E. Maria Mutagamba, Minister of State for Water of Uganda, and currently the chair of the African Ministerial Council on Water. 

Although in my previous post I mentioned that there is the need to look at both sides of the equation, meaning how gender equality impacts access to water/improved sanitation and vice-versa, it is actually more than often the case that showing how water projects improve with the involvement of women has a greater effect in terms of financing than illustrating how access to water contributes to gender equality.

The Water and Sanitation Program, which is administered by the World Bank, identifies the following indicators of best-practice “gender-mainstreaming”:

• The existence of gender specific objectives within national and sector level policies.
• The existence of gender policies within agencies involved in sector development.
• Water and sanitation equity distribution ratios and percentage of population on-network vs. off-network
• Proportion of income spent by women and men in accessing water and sanitation services 

In the coming weeks, I will be applying these indicators to case studies of water and sanitation initiatives in Africa. I will use them as a means of evaluating the extent to which they have been effective in promoting gender equality by making the concerns and experiences of women, as well as men, an integral dimension of all stages of the projects.