ABSTRACT
In regional Indonesia, the limited involvement of women in decision-making and the management of water sees women cast exclusively as water users and passive beneficiaries of water development policies and programs. In reality, clean water is utilised by women for productive work that simultaneously increases the family’s income and contributes to the family’s welfare. Despite the changes in gender roles, particularly in daily water practices, there is little understanding of implementation by service providers at the central government and village administration levels of the role of women in water management. The result is that although women have an important and even decisive role in the domestic lives of their families, they face various limitations in local decision-making processes and access to water management. Using the case of two villages in the Kulon Progo district of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, with a mix of individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, the chapter finds that changing social conditions are creating a more dynamic gender relationship and increasing women’s agency. The study has specific policy implications for gender and rural governance in Indonesia and, more generally, for gender mainstreaming initiatives that empower women in regional locations.
