ABSTRACT
The demands and skills of water users differ, depending on their gender, age, culture, religion, abilities, education, and income. Sustainable water management requires that these differences be taken into account at all levels and for all water activities, from policies to projects. Yet too often, underrepresented users— particularly women, the main users and managers of water—are excluded from decision-making and planning.
The exclusion of women has made water management systems less responsive to demands for water services. Moreover, it has squandered the skills and energy of half the world's population—skills and energy that could be used in developing countries to provide water services and manage natural resources, contributing to social, economic, and personal development.
These shortcomings offer important lessons—and challenges—for the international water community. Women's involvement is crucial to successful water sector reforms. Women's pressing needs for water and sanitation for their households and livelihoods put them at the fore of the community of water users, especially in poor communities. Thus their obvious skills as managers of water resources and water systems must be harnessed more appropriately. What is the best way to do so?
