Setting the stage : global trends in gender and demand responsive water supply, sanitation and hygiene

The article resumes the presentation made during the UNESCO Regional Workshop on women’s participation in water management in 1997 in Pretoria, South Africa. It introduces the topic by providing a definiton for gender and analysing what a sustainable development programme implies in terms of technical, social, financial, environmental and institutional sustainability. The article gives an overview of the development of male focused community participation concepts in the 70s, which overlooked women’s demands in water and land development programmes and neglected to consider indigeneous management systems of water and waste. Consequently women’s traditional public management roles went unrecognised and they lost management functions, jobs and status when these systems came in.

In the mid 80s, projects started involving women in management and decision-making to improve their efficiency. However, this participation was often unpaid or without real decision-making power. Women’s responsibilities were overloaded while men were withdrawing from some responsibilities and were not involved, as for instance, in hygiene and health education.

Considering this historical evolution, the authors state that neither an exclusive focus on men or on women will work. Therefore, there is a need for a more gender equitable approach in service participation and management by women and men allowing access to information and knowledge, the division of work and sharing in decision-making, resources and benefits and also considering different age groups, classes and ethnic and religious groups. A series of positive examples in this direction are reflected in the document.

The authors conclude that there is increasing awareness on the importance of gender in water supply, sanitation and hygiene within the project cycle. For intance, gender analysis has allowed people to look at their changing roles and responsibilities in a new perspective, and now people can often consider technological, managerial and financial options and their consequences. Finally, when participation is equitable and services respond to their differential demands and capacities, then effectiveness and sustainability can be expected from the sector.