Men's roles, gender relations and sustainability in water supplies : some lessons from Nepal : paper presented at the ESRC Seminar: Beyond rhetoric: male involvement in gender and development policy and practice, Oxford, 9-10 June 2000.

This paper examines water-supply interventions of some agencies, including non-governmental, bilateral, and government organisations, carried out from a gender perspective in various geographical regions of Nepal over a period of two years (early 1997 to early 1999). It discusses the involvement of women in community water projects, the impact of water projects on women's daily lives, the exclusion of women from project management, the male bias in the sharing of benefits, and the institutional bias towards men. One major finding of the research is that, despite the importance of women's strategic involvement in the management of water supplies, as highlighted by the literature on gender and development, the drinking-water sector still appears insensitive to gender issues in Nepal. The paper concludes with recommendations to improve this situation. Published in Sweetman C (Ed), 2001. Men’s Involvement in Gender and Development Policy and Practice: Beyond Rhetoric. Oxfam Working Papers. Oxfam, Oxford.