Gender & Water: bridging the topics of the CSW and the UN Water Conference
We see this moment in time – with the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) focusing on digitalization, innovation and technology for achieving gender equality, and the UN Water Conference taking place right after – as an important moment to bring their focus areas together. It presents us with a unique opportunity to truly approach these crises with an intersectional approach and in doing so, build a bridge between SDG 5, SDG 6, SDG 9 and more.
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On our way to achieving the SDGs we must understand that many challenges the world is facing are interconnected and require an intersectional approach to be solved. More than 90% of all climate disasters are water related, often leading to the violation of the human right to water and sanitation, primarily affecting women and girls. This makes the climate crisis a water crisis, enhancing gender inequality worldwide.
To address these crises successfully, we must commit to tackling their root causes and structural inequalities, combining public and private sector efforts. Many of our current climate ambitions depend on continuous innovation and technology and call for a human rights-based approach in the broader scope of sustainable development. In this regard, digitalization, innovation, and technology play a crucial role for a gender-just transition to enable the human right to water and sanitation for all.
Women-led water solutions
Women and girls, in all their diversity, are already leading on innovative solutions using technology to advance climate and gender justice. They work on innovative ways to improve water security and deal with the water-related challenges of the climate crisis, such as droughts, flooding and water pollution. For example, by advancing technological solutions for retaining floodwater and using it for irrigation. This is exactly what our partner Trupti Jain does.
“When marginalised women mobilise around an innovative technology, it improves their resilience and restores their dignity.” – Trupti Jain
Trupti Jain from Naireeta Services, combines women’s leadership with low cost and sustainable technology to tackle the severe impacts of excessive rain water from storms. She works in Gujarat state, India, which is prone to short periods of heavy rains and flooding, followed by long droughts. This technology protects groundwater via a filtration system and increases soil fertility by reducing salinity (salt). The units conserve runoff water and can irrigate during the dry season. While women still do not own the land, by owning the technology they help their community double their harvest which in turn has a tremendous impact on their role in the community as decision-makers.
Join us these two weeks
Together with Simavi, we will host a NGO CSW event, where these women-led water solutions will be the core, with initiatives from both the Asian and the African continent. One of the speakers will be Trupti Jain.
Join us this Wednesday, and if you are not yet in town, don’t miss these two side events during the Water Conference:
- Good Practices on Integrated & Transboundary Water Cooperation – UN Water Conference – WECF
- Sanitation and Menstrual Health – UN Water Conference – WECF
We hope to see you soon to accelerate intersectional action for water and gender justice!