Gender in court : session at the Third World Water Forum, 17th March 2003, Kyoto, Japan

Court session organized by the Gender and Water Alliance. The session's "judges" highlighted the following points as key issues:
o Mainstreaming gender in water resources management is critical
o Explicit inclusion of gender issues in national water policies provides the framework
o Gender sensitivity in institutions provides the basis for implementation
o NGOs can be intermediaries and catalysts for introducing gender perspectives and linking communities with governments
o At the community level, it was increasingly obvious that both men and women need to be empowered to cope with changes in gender relations

The following issues emerged from the case studies:
o Include all groups and ages to build social equity.
o Identify and prioritize water uses by women and men to inform planning, policy and programs.
o Invest resources in participatory approaches.
o Ensure that participatory processes do not become an additional burden on women.
o Training and capacity building for women should include technical, financial and leadership training.
o Include women in disaster mitigation meetings and assist communities to recognize disaster situations.
o Involve women in technology decisions and in the development of new technologies.
o Develop qualitative indicators to measure changes in attitudes and gender relations.
o Engage men in health and hygiene education and projects.
o Build on women's strengths and don't only focus on their vulnerabilities.
o Take research on gender to implementation/action stage.
o Give men incentives to participate and sustain gender equity for both women and men in water management.
o Amend constitutions to ensure women's equality and rights.
o Promote quotas for women's participation in decision-making.
o Ensure that gender training is linked to specific and immediate actions.
[taken from GWA summary of session report]