Promoting a gender-transformative approach in the transboundary water sector

The men talked about how, as boys, gender stereotypes meant they got special treatment compared to their sisters but they also struggled with the cultural norm of having to be brave and never cry. 

The women reflected on how, as girls, they learned to be meek and docile and had to fight for the right to the same education as their brothers.  

Women and men coming from a number of countries from the East and Horn of Africa highlighted examples of deep-seated patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes, which drive gender inequality throughout life, during trainings conducted by the Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) on how to foster gender-transformative approaches in the male-dominated transboundary water management sector.  

“The training helped us understand the cultural foundations of gender inequality and how they have shaped the way men and women think in regard to society's expectations,” says Margret Achieng, records management officer at the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC). 

Fostering a common understanding of gender equality  

For transformation to happen, everyone in an organization must share responsibility for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion as core components of organizational culture. Training on gender and social inclusion can be an important first step to establishing a shared understanding of equity and a commitment to tackling gender inequalities and promoting women’s empowerment.   

For example, men need to understand that women’s unpaid domestic responsibilities may make it difficult for them to work long hours, attend after-hours meetings, or do fieldwork. The training sessions included discussions about ways to make the workplace more gender-friendly, such as by establishing flexible work hours or introducing on-site childcare, shifting perceptions about gender roles, and ensuring that women are valued and rewarded.  

The need for more progress 

“Experts and team leaders in water-related sectors across Eastern Nile countries lack a comprehensive understanding of the Nile Basin Initiative's (NBI) gender mainstreaming policy and strategy. Their grasp of gender equality is rudimentary at best, and they exhibit knowledge gaps in gender-responsive planning and mainstreaming," shared Assefa Gudina, the gender focal point at NBI's Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office, who played a key role in organizing the training. 

The trainings included two other partners—the NBI’s Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit (NELSAP-CU) and the LVBC—affiliated with CIWA’s Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience initiative, which supports regional capacity-building to develop skills, enhance collaboration, and encourage dialogue. 

The NBI has shifted from a gender-neutral approach to paying close attention to the challenges facing women and girls by mainstreaming gender into its structures, programming, and processes. Similarly, the LVBC’s strategic plan calls for mainstreaming gender into all its programming.   

Gender mainstreaming offers a way to systematically consider gender dynamics in a particular context, how systems and institutions codify gender norms, and how power is distributed across multiple levels and sectors. It is applied to every stage of a project, from development to implementation. This includes identifying how gender inequalities determine the differences in opportunities and challenges for women and men, not only as project beneficiaries but also as community leaders, policy makers, engineers, and government officials.  

Exploring biases and developing solutions 

CIWA’s gender and social inclusion training began with exercises to help the 30 participants understand their own perspectives on gender and potential biases and make linkages to cultural drivers of inequality.  

Ellen, who delivered the training, shared her own family history from a gender perspective to encourage participants to grapple with their upbringing and how it has influenced their perceptions of gender roles. Participants then worked in small groups to consider how culture can affect workplace behaviors such as women having to work twice as hard as men to be accepted.  

They also learned about the importance of applying a social inclusion lens, such as by conducting stakeholder mapping to identify challenges faced by vulnerable populations and integrating solutions into projects.  

For example, for operations in fragile or conflict-affected settings, participants identified building safe and secure washing facilities for women and setting accessible meeting times and locations so that women can be consulted on the design, development, and location of water infrastructure needed in a refugee camp or other challenging settings.   

The training encouraged participants to identify ways to navigate male resistance and enlist men as champions of equality. For example, participants noted that men rarely take responsibility for serving coffee or tea at meetings and how, by performing this role, they can help shift stereotypes that reinforce the perception that only women should do household work.   

The training also discussed how to mainstream gender throughout the project cycle. Participants said a common problem is the tendency to allocate financial and technical resources at the planning phase without ensuring resources for the implementation phase. Using a project example from their own organizations, participants worked in small groups to map out gender and social inclusion actions they could take at the planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation phases, such as identifying stakeholders and disaggregating data by gender.   

Putting training into practice  

The trainings are already having an impact. 

Richard Sangabo, gender focal point at NELSAP-CU, said after the training that his organization is considering social inclusion during project development: “Project teams are now supporting active and inclusive engagement with . . . the marginalized, women, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups.” 

“The training was vital to me,” says Baraka Karama, communications officer at LVBC. “It made me learn more about the need for gender inclusion and the importance of a society, community, and organization appreciating gender inclusion in its daily operations.”  

Ai-Ju Huang is the deputy program manager of the Cooperation in International Waters in Africa, and Ellen Hagerman is Cooperation in International Waters in Africa’s senior gender and social inclusion expert.