wH2O: The Journal of Gender and Water

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ISSN
Print: 2167-2822 Online: 2167-2830
Publisher
Discipline
Africana Studies
Appalachian Studies
Curriculum and Social Inquiry
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Environmental Design
Environmental Engineering
Environmental Health
Environmental Law
Environmental Studies
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Other German Language and Literature
Risk Analysis
Technical and Professional Writing
Urban, Community and Regional Planning
Water Resource Management
Women's Studies
Description
wH2O, the Journal of Gender and Water, is an internationally recognized, peer reviewed publication serving as a centralized hub for information on gender issues related to water, sanitation and hygiene and gender equity in the water sector. Our vision is to become an internationally recognized journal that serves as a centralized hub for information related to gender mainstreaming related to water, sanitation and hygiene, and gender equity in the water industry. Submit your work for publication in our upcoming volumes via journal's portal: https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/submit.cgi?context=wh2ojournal

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 77
  • Publication
    El Agua Es Oro: A Human Centered Solution for the City of Cochabamba, Bolivia
    (2022-04-30) Mendoza, Natalia; Olmedo, Camilia
    The purpose of El Agua Es Oro (The Water is Gold) is to satisfy social needs, specifically for women living in peri-urban areas, with a more advanced efficiency. El Agua Es Oro creates an added value for people’s well-being by maximizing socio-environmental context and not just focusing on for-profit economics. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy to generate economic resources to sustain the impact that the organization seeks to achieve. El Agua Es Oro is a social enterprise based on the application of social innovation with the methodology and tools of a people-centered design, focusing on teenage girls and women. The foundations of the project and the pre-conceived idea were born from the informal field work that was carried out with a small community in Cochabamba, Bolivia, based on the women’s needs to access greater hygiene and sanitation. The core of the social project showed the difficulties faced in the area, from socio-environmental problems, going through the lack of access to water, to the lack of public initiatives from the State and non-profit organizations for the community. To ensure the sustainability of the planned intervention, this project plan has been carried out as informal fieldwork and research for more than a year. The project is divided into segments that identify the analysis of the macro environment, implement the strategic marketing, determine the resources needed, design the operations, and finally analyze the assessment of viability.
  • Publication
    Cinderella and the Missing Slipper: Gender Dynamics in Water Management in the Coastal Region of Bangladesh
    (2019-03-04) Bahauddin, Khalid Md.; Huq, Hamidul
    The water world is socially constructed, reflecting continuous gender inequalities and discrimination by those who hold dominant perspectives on water. This qualitative study was conducted in coastal areas of Bangladesh i.e. Bajua and Laodob union of Dacope upazilla of Khulna district. This study explored the gendered roles, responsibilities, and inequalities of access to and control over water management in the household, irrigation and agriculture. Results of this study lightened the importance of taking into account the complexity of power and negotiation in local water structures within women’s social realities. This study observed that there are considerable gender imbalance with regard to household activities, income generating activities, participation and mobility, ownership and control of resources, decision making power and involvement in different activities in the water management. The distinct roles and the relations between men and women may give rise to gender inequalities where one group is systematically favored and holds advantages over another. Therefore, gender mainstreaming in the water management is an integral dimension to bringing to light the concerns and experiences of both men and women. The study is convinced that dissemination of information with regards to the role of women in the water management and benefits of a gendered approach in the water sector has been neglected. There were inadequate research materials, especially locally in relation to gender, water management and women empowerment, indicating that there either has been not much research conducted to explore the top or there has been no proper documentation of research papers pertaining to the same. Possible areas of further research may include evaluating the gender mainstreaming strategies in the water and agriculture management in the southwest coastal regions of Bangladesh. If strategies are there and people are enlightened, where is the missing link? Lastly, further research is needed to focus on how women knowledge in water management can be translated to community and national benefits.
  • Publication
    It’s Art About Water Treatment! An interview with Mallory Chaput, the artist inspiring future water leaders-one artwork at a time
    (2022-04-30) Hegde, Swati
    This article throws a spotlight on Mallory Chaput, an artist inspiring future water leaders to take up water careers. Through her coloring pages, paintings, and comics about the water treatment, Mallory is helping children re-imagine the water sector. Originally a landscaper, Mallory developed a profound interest in water and wastewater treatment and learned about it by visiting plants, talking to professionals, and studying engineering books. This article is a transcript of an interview with Mallory, featuring her background, her imaginative creations and her future goals.
  • Publication
    Pushing Forward in the Changing Water Sector: An Interview with Kishia L. Powell, COO, DC Water
    (2021-03-05) Drabick, Abigail
    Kishia Powell is a licensed Professional Engineer in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Morgan State University’s Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. School of Engineering. Currently, Powell is Chief Operating Officer at DC Water, where she manages 80% of the water authority’s resources. With over 22 years of experience, Kishia Powell sheds light on the value of water, her experience as a leader and a woman in the water utilities industry, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change in this interview with The Journal of Gender and Water. Through her storytelling of challenges, progress, and triumphs, not only do we get a window in Kishia Powell’s career journey, but the water sector as a whole. From the complex conversations about racial equity, access, and affordability in public systems, to infrastructure investment we can see through Powell’s experiences that she, alongside other empowered leaders, are actively addressing these matters and pushing the industry forward.
  • Publication
    Overcoming Barriers to Women’s Participation in Water Supply through Innovative Technology
    (2021-03-05) Winkler, Gillian; Chakravarty, Nisha
    Research from the global development sector repeatedly shows that convenient access to safe water improves women’s quality of life. Similarly, digital technology is increasingly highlighted as an essential component for increasing women’s educational, economic, and civic opportunities—yet a gender divide exists. As digital technology becomes more prevalent in managing effective and reliable safe water services, the water sector has the opportunity to both create new channels for women to engage with technology and use technology to make safe water supply more responsive to women’s needs. In this article, we will explore how technology is deployed within the small water enterprise (SWE) value chain to produce benefits for women beyond immediate safe water access. Using Safe Water Network’s experience in India, where it launched a program with Honeywell Hometown Solutions to center women as safe water suppliers, as well as Saha Global’s program in Ghana, we will highlight how technology advances women’s roles as active participants in the local economy through their responsibilities as SWE managers and operators.
  • Publication
    Contributions of the Women Groups of West Bengal, India for Solving Rural Water Challenges
    (2021-03-05) Das, Mina
    Poor rural communities suffer from many socio-economic issues; however, the availability of clean and safe water is the fundamental challenge amongst all other hindrances confronted by these communities. This article focuses on the non-profit organization, Nishtha (meaning dedication) and their intervention in women empowerment for better water accessibility in rural communities of West Bengal, India. The paper will further highlight the so-called “rural ignorant women’s endeavour” in innovative thought and strategy to protect their own families and the community. The article also discusses Nishtha’s intervention during water crises and disasters using a participatory approach involving women.
  • Publication
    Empowering Women in the WASH Sector: A Woman's Burden
    (2017-12-01) Greeney, Yari; Chanis, Becky; Bulos, Gemma; Cardone, Rachel
  • Publication
    Institutions and the Sustainability of Community Borehole Water Supplies in Chiredzi Rural District, Zimbabwe
    (2019-03-04) Tagutanazvo, Emelder Muchadzoka; Bowora, John
    This paper looks at institutions and sustainability of community-owned borehole water suppliers in Chiredzi Rural District of Zimbabwe. It examines the findings in Wards 13, 14 and 15 of Sengwe Communal Lands. The total number of boreholes in the mentioned wards amounts to 58. The paper also investigates the involvement of local institutions in the management of community boreholes, the socio-economic characteristics of the users of the boreholes, the number of boreholes and their functionality, and suggests a measurement of sustenance of the boreholes in the study area. The study uses both quantitative and qualitative methodology. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Data gathering methods included questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and observations. The study reveals that in some villages of Sengwe Communal Lands, the majority of local institutions were not effectively involved in management of their boreholes and only a minority were effectively involved. In villages where there was less institutional involvement in the management of boreholes, most of the water points were in poor condition and needed repairs to function properly. The study concludes that there is need for policy- makers, planners, water agencies and water users to work collectively in the management and maintenance of the water points. The study therefore recommends a command approach in addition to the existing practice for sustainable water supply in the study area.
  • Publication
    The Women, Water and Sanitation Crisis and the Role of the Transnational Corporation: An Evaluation of Initiatives, Incentives and Impacts
    (2017-10-03) D'Angelo, Caroline
    Throughout much of the developing world, women lack access to water and sanitation. This means that women cannot work or attend school, are at higher risk of assault and illness and must care for family members sickened from disease-carrying water. This crisis will only worsen due to increasing water scarcity from population growth, climate change and coming water conflicts . Trans- national companies (TNCs) are in a unique position to provide women water and sanitation (WW&S) access through investment in social enterprises, addressing and mitigating gendered negative impacts, corporate social responsibility and sustainable management (CSRM) programs and governance and stakeholder management initiatives. They have much to gain: investing in water and sanitation access can improve productivity of the work force, create better stakeholder relationships and develop new markets. This paper briefly surveys the available literature on WW&S, and then examines how transnational corporations negatively and positively affect WW&S through real and conceptual examples in corporate social responsibility, investment in social enterprise and governance strategies.
  • Publication
    Caloric Expenditure as an Indicator of Access to Water
    (2017-12-01) La Frenierre, Jeff
    Building upon the stated success of the Millennium Development Goal to "halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water", Goal 6.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SD Gs) aims to "by 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all." However, 'access' as currently defined allows for a water source to be outside of the home, by tradition as much as 1 kilometer away. As a result, as many as 2.3 billion people live in households considered to have achieved 'access' but who remain reliant on water fetching, an onerous task that is disproportionately assigned to women and girls. This research first examines the question of access using as case studies two rural Lao villages, including the demographics of water fetchers, then employs a predictive energy expenditure model to analyze in detail the human energy costs associated with fetching water. Results show that, even where fetching distance is well within 1 kilometer, the daily human energy cost of water fetching is often a considerable proportion of daily caloric intake. Furthermore, other factors such as the age and gender of water fetchers and the nature of the terrain they must traverse play a large role in this energy cost, a fact that often obscures the true burden of water fetching. If the health and well-being objectives that lie at the heart of the SDGs are to be truly met, this reality will have to be acknowledged by development practitioners and water policy makers.