Women as change-makers in the governance of shared waters

Issues of women’s participation and gender equality in the governance of shared waters have received insufficient attention to date in both the research and practice literature, yet action is happening on the ground. Women play key roles in generating change in the way water is used, shared, and allocated, from local to transnational levels and in spite of legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks that provide little space for their participation in planning and decisionmaking. This paper targets an audience of policy-makers, practitioners and researchers who are interested in taking action, policy and research further on these topics. It combines a survey of the literature with a collection of case examples describing how women in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa are leading change on the ground in governing shared waters. Because the scientific and grey literature on the role of women in transboundary water governance is still scant, this exploratory document also draws on literature and data from the non-transboundary realm to explore the relevant gender-related dimensions of governing and sharing water, from a transboundary perspective.