ABSTRACT
In the early decades of Independence, development planning viewed women’s roles within a basic needs framework of access to resources including water. Later, the welfarist perspective gave way to approaches that seemingly encompassed rights to and control of resources, as also a deeper understanding of how gender relations shape women’s roles. Globally, as the field of water governance changed in the 1990s, the expectation was that far greater numbers of women would find representation in water management and that this would change their lives and work. The alternative perspectives emerging from the interaction of policy makers, academics and practitioners have, indeed, gained visibility for women in water. Yet, on the ground, little has changed. In rare cases, however, women’s grassroots organizations, their struggles against patriarchy and around water have won them some empowerment. This chapter examines this process. We suggest that for gender and social relations to be integrated into the planning process requires looking beyond water. On the one hand, the gender and water discourse needs to be embedded in a multi-sectoral approach to resources, and, on the other, political struggles for resources need to integrate the feminist perspectives of grassroots women’s struggles.
