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ACTION PLAN:

Training and capacity building on gender mainstreaming in Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)

Full Title: Development and Implementation of New, Improved and Tailored Methodologies, Tools and Materials for Training and Capacity Building in Mainstreaming Gender in IWRM

Reporting back on the Action Plan Sessions:

We take great pleasure in offering you a brief glimpse behind the scenes of our two-days action plan sessions. Our action plan sessions were driven by the aim to launch and develop commitment to the GWA gender mainstreaming multi-stakeholder project. Our central objective hereby is to develop the capacity of GWA members and their partners, through the introduction and training on the use of new, improved, and tailored methodologies, tools and materials on gender mainstreaming in IWRM. Together – as representatives of NGOs, youth, resource centres, government, grassroots organizations and university - we have tackled this ambition head on and are now committed to follow this through in a three very concrete steps.

The very first step of action pertains to the further design and refinement of the training course on integrating gender in IWRM. A preliminary program - consisting of a half a dozen modules - is structured around the insightful results of a recent baseline survey of the members of the Gender and Water Alliance. Our program thus responds to a pervasive need for flexible, tailored and innovative programs that incite both a better conceptual understanding of the gender-water jargon in the context of IWRM, as well as tangible paths of action. With the commitment of a diverse ‘core group’ of stakeholders (including grassroots representatives, academic, etc) in place, the process of further developing the training materials promises to be a very fascinating one, giving rise to a high quality, sensitive and well-balanced pilot course package.

This ‘critically deliberated upon’ package will then be used for the training of a global group of trainers of training (in short, TOTs). Upon review and careful evaluation of this first global session, the materials will be translated into three other languages, namely Portuguese, Spanish and French. The courses – now in four different languages - will then be taken to the regional level at four different venues, engaging regional trainers. On this front, we have also made significant headway. We have initiated a feasible list of interesting and committed candidates for participating in the global and/or regional training sessions. We have also taken steps to concretise our aim to work effectively and powerfully through regional resource centre hubs, possibly in South African, Morocco, Brazil and India.

Further evaluations and adaptations, eight programs at the sub-regional/country level and surely a plethora of emerging ideas are then expected to seal off our first phase of the program and instigate and vitalize the plans of our second phase. Benefiting from and building on the diverse responses to the programs as tested across the globe, our second phase of training strategies is likely to be exceptionally forceful, targeted and well thought through.

For now, we take pride in the outcomes achieved during our action plan sessions: (i) expanding the committed multi-stakeholder team for the implementation phase of the project, (ii) enlarging the group of stakeholders who will provide information and input, and (iii) extending the resource base for the project in terms of funding, knowledge, skills and human resources.

Champions:

Jennifer Francis, Pauline Ikumi (Gender & Water Alliance / GWA)

Participating Stakeholders:

Dorothy Fernandes and Elsa Muttathu (International Presentation Association, India)

Ndileka Mohapi (Dept of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa)

Pamela Oppus (International Council for Local Governmental Initiatives)

Marieke Huysentruyt (London School of Economics, United Kingdom)

Corine Otte (Youth Water Action Team)

Bilun Mueller and Friederike Lange (European Law Students' Association)

Karin Krchnak (National Wildlife Federation, USA)

Houria Tazi Sadeq (ALMAE, Interdisciplinary UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development, Morocco)

Ninon Machedo (Instituto Ipaneme, Brazil)