Work Package 5 – Gender

5.5 Work Package 5 – Gender

How water is accessed, used, and managed is highly gendered in Nepal.  Water sector research and analysis must consider the different productive, domestic and community roles of women and men in order to fully comprehend the breadth of human action and adaptation. Further, as development is predicated on change, a comprehensive knowledge of gendered differences is crucial when designing and implementing new initiatives. Across all the other 5 core work packages, and supporting work package number 7 (KM), the different roles, responsibilities, impacts and trade-offs for women and men, and in many instances the implications of caste, will be explored. The outputs below articulate the gendered aspects of outputs in these packages and in some instances extend the scope of work.

Gender Specific Outputs:

  • WP 1 The political economy analysis at the basin level will elucidate gendered differences in perceptions of water resources development, access to resources (e.g. decision-making structure and processes as well as financial source), and how these maintain existing power relationships that marginalise people based on sex and caste
  • WP1 The comprehensive assessment of water governance decision-making structures and processes will analyse the gendered characteristics of these structures and plans
  • WP 1 The comprehensive policy review and institutional analysis across scales (from mapping government policies and key stakeholders at national/sub-national level to understanding local institutional arrangements) will highlight the different implications for women and men focusing on the intersection of land-water-energy-environment
  • WP 1 Where applicable the comprehensive assessment of project-based procedures including project development agreements, power purchase agreements, individual power producers, and project-based resettlement action plan will shed light on gender blindness or disparities
  • WP 1The policy recommendations that identify major gaps in current policy and institutional set up as well as potential ways forward to address these gaps will address gendered issues such as male outmigration and the feminisation of agriculture.
  • WP 2: The extension of IWMI’s e-flow calculator will include functions to identify differential impacts for women and men. For some functions it may be counter-productive to quantify and monetise ecosystems services. A critical appraisal of the application of the calculator and its limitations, including being able to account for difference between women and men, will add value and contextualise the calculator results.
  • WP 3: As noted in the details of WP3, the hydrological models of different scenarios will be analysed to assess the differential impacts on women and men.
  • WP 3: The multi-stakeholder participatory process that will be used as a tool for exploring water resources development pathways and trade-offs will, at a minimum, include 50% female participants. Where women are over-represented in the population, for example in small-scale agriculture, the percentage will be much higher.
  • WP 4.1: The comprehensive report on the facilitating as well as constraining factors on access and use of different water resources within the community will explicitly analyse the implication of current gender and caste relations
  • WP 4.2: Water resource management plans at the district, catchment and sub-basin level will address the relevant gender dimensions of each plan at the applicable scale.
  • WP 4.3: The demonstration study report on the effectiveness of alternative water pumping technologies to access water sources will outline different consequences of these technologies for women and men.
  • WP 4.2: Case study reports on options for farm cooperatives to improve opportunities for marginalised farming communities will include gender analyses for each option.
  • WP 4.2: Guidelines for community based organisations to establish farm cooperatives will explicitly consider different opportunities and constraints for women and men.
  • WP 5: Gender will be mainstreamed in the guidelines for sustainable hydropower development, irrigation schemes and water storage schemes
  • WP 5: Gender will be mainstreamed in the report on recommendations for sustainable water resource development planning in Nepal.

Activities

  • The project gender team will work towards developing a comprehensive gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) plan that will identify the barriers and opportunities to mainstream gender in the project, and to achieve change from changes in awareness, attitudes and behaviors to changes in policies, planning tools and development programs in the region.
  • The team will develop an analytical framework to ensure that the gender analysis and mainstreaming efforts conducted across the different work packages are done according to a coherent and integrated approach that links different governance levels (e.g., VDC, district, province, national) and units of analysis (e.g., individual, household, communities, organizations).
  • During the overall project period, the team will work closely together with other WP leaders and researchers, as well as partners and stakeholders, in order to ensure that gender issues are adequately considered and that the research activities, dialogues and policy recommendations support a transformative gender approach in the region.

Outputs

  • A GESI plan will be completed by June, 2016
  • An analytical framework to analyze and integrate gender across scales and WPs by Feb, 2017
  • The political economy analysis at the basin level (WP1) will elucidate gender/caste/ethnicity differences in perceptions of water resources development and access to resources (e.g., decision-making structure and processes as well as financial source), and how these maintain existing power relationships that marginalize people based on sex and caste. The final report will be completed by December, 2017. A consolidated list of key stakeholders involving the government, civil society groups, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and academics will be prepared by December, 2016.
  • The comprehensive assessment of water governance decision-making structures and processes will analyze the gendered characteristics of these structures and plans. The final report will be completed by December, 2017, and a report on the overview of policy documents (including government law, decrees and guidelines) on water resources management, in particular, at the interface of water-food-energy and the environment will be completed by April, 2017.
  • The comprehensive policy review and institutional analysis across scales (WP1) will highlight the different implications for women, men and caste, focusing on the intersection of land-water-energy-environment. The final report will be completed by December, 2017, and a report on the overview of policy documents (including government law, decrees and guidelines) on water resources management, in particular, at the interface of water-food-energy and the environment will be completed by April, 2017.
  • The policy recommendations that identify major gaps in current policy and institutional set up, as well as potential ways forward to address these gaps, will address gendered issues such as male out-migration and the feminization of agriculture. The final report will be completed by December, 2017 and a draft report on policy review and institutional analysis will be completed by April, 2017.
  • The multi-stakeholder participatory process that will be used as a tool for exploring water resources development pathways and trade-offs will, at a minimum, include 30% of female participants. Where women are overrepresented in the population, for example, in small-scale agriculture, the percentage will be much higher.
  • The comprehensive report on the facilitating as well as constraining factors on access and use of different water resources within the community will explicitly analyze the implication of current gender and caste relations. The report will be completed by April, 2017 

Assumptions and risks

  • Stakeholders are willing to discuss gendered practices.
  • There are sufficient accessible data to link scenarios and impacts on gender/caste/ethnicity.
  • Women who are present are willing to raise their voices to articulate their perceptions and to defend their interests.
  • Because of an entrenched masculine professional culture in the water sector and patriarchal norms, this outcome will also depend on the presence and identification of ‘champions’ within the bureaucracy who can support the inclusion of gender in water discourses. The assumption for the output to lead to the outcome is that such champions exist and are willing to cooperate.
  • There might not be sufficient data available to assess the impacts differentiated by gender, caste and ethnicity.
  • A major bandha/strike in the region could make local travel, especially for women, insecure and difficult.

Project outcomes

  • The project will lay the ground for researchers and stakeholders involved in the participatory process to better consider gender, caste and ethnicity in the identification of basin development scenarios, modelling and policy recommendations.
  • Awareness of stakeholders will be raised on how a masculine organizational culture might affect attitudes and practices in the water sector.
  • The policy recommendations that will stem from the institutional analysis will be gender/cast/ethnicity sensitive, and stakeholders will have a better understanding of how gender/caste/ethnicity affects water resources development and which gender issues are relevant to consider for water resources development.
  • Water resources development pathways and trade-offs will consider the views, needs and experiences of women and marginalized communities.
  • There will be a greater consideration of gender in hydropower and irrigation development in Nepal that goes beyond a tokenistic approach.

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