Division for Sustainable Development
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Gender & Water
Establishing an Interagency Gender & Water Task Force
At the start of the International Year of Freshwater in February 2003, the Interagency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) decided to establish an Interagency Gender and Water Task Force and invited Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) to serve as Task Manager. It was also agreed to invite a few non-UN entities to be part of the Task Force.
Task Force Meetings & Coordination
The first meeting of the Interagency Gender and Water Task Force was held on 10 September 2003. Subsequent meetings have been held about twice a year. Informal consultations are held among core members on specific tasks, such as inputs to the Report of the Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation and the World Water Development Report I and Report II. Frequent contact by email with members enables the Task Force to coordinate its activities and consult on its programme of work.
UN-Water & the Task Force
The meeting of UN-Water in late 2004 agreed that the Task Force would be one of its sub-programmes and requested it to take responsibility for the gender component of the International Water for Life Decade, 2005-2015. The Task Force reports to IANGWE at its spring session and to UN-Water at its semi-annual sessions.
Recent Activities
Most recent activities of the Task Force include:
- Members of the Task Force attended the Fourth World Water Forum, 16-22 March, 2006, Mexico. The Task Force co-convened the session entitled safe, accessible, private and nearby: involving women in managing water and sanitation. The key to meeting the MDGs on 19 March at the Forum. The report of the Task Force participation at the Forum is available at link below.
- The Task Force assisted to finalize a manuscript of 15 case studies, entitled Gender, Water and Sanitation Case Studies and Best Practices; contributed by the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI). Case studies have been used in the Resource Guide on Gender and IWRM and in A Gender Perspective on Water Resources and Sanitation, Wagadu (Feb 06), A Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies, v. 3. (Earlier version presented as CSD-13 Background paper: A Gender perspective on Water Resources and Sanitation)
- The Task Manager convened an informal meeting of members of the Task Force with some of the women ministers of water and of the environment on 23 August 2005, during the World Water Week in Stockholm. The meeting confirmed the support and commitment of the women ministers to the efforts to mainstream gender in water management.
Further Information on the Task Force
Information about the Interagency Task Force on Gender and Water materials, including case studies, papers, and policy brief can be found on the Freshwater page
- Interagency Gender and Water Task Force, Terms of Reference
- Members of the Interagency Task Force on Gender and Water (GWTF)
- A list of women Ministers responsible for environment and/or water resources
- Report of Relevant Activities and Messages for the Gender and Water Task Force from the Fourth World Water Forum Mexico City, 16-22 March 2006
- Gender and Water Task Force Work Plan, 2007-2008
- Report of the Interagency Task Force on Gender and Water, 2005-2006
- Report of the Interagency Task Force on Gender and Water, 2004-2005
- Report of the Interagency Task Force on Gender and Water, 2003-2004