Gender Aspects of Rainwater Harvesting

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Gender Aspects of Rainwater Harvesting in Nepal Assessing Gender Aspects of Rainwater Harvesting in Nepal 1. Introduction This paper uses the framework of strategic and practical gender needs (Moser 1989) in the context of the Rainwater Harvesting Project in Nepal, to argue that understanding how these needs are inter-linked is essential for the sustainability of drinking water projects. This is because the empowerment of women is a prerequisite for development, as well as an issue of justice. In almost all rural communities in developing countries, it is primarily the women, and sometimes girl children, who collect water, protect the water source, maintain the water systems, and store the water. Women spend a significant amount of their time in these activities. They also determine the use of water, and this decision-making has a direct impact upon the health of children and other family members. Women’s pivotal role was recognised during the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (IDWSSD), 1981-90, and has been widely discussed in the drinking-water sector since then. In recent years, even in Nepal, numerous projects implemented in the drinking water sector have made some provision to recognise women’s existing roles in water collection and management, and to promote women's participation in project activities. However, such participation tends to be limited, and often tokenistic. Water projects do not often explicitly focus on the need to promote an equal balance of power between women and men. It is or prime importance that drinking water projects and programmes should not only aim to meet the practical needs of women, men and children in communities, also need to focus on meeting women’s strategic gender needs. These concepts are well-known to development practitioners trained in gender analysis, they remain outside the

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