Accelerating Women's Inclusion in Water

Asian Development Bank (

United Nations / Multilateral body

)

#SDGAction50326

Description

The Accelerating Women's Inclusion in Water Initiative aims to:
(i) better measure and track gendered dimensions of women’s water insecurity, and women’s representation in water leadership and policymaking roles, including the need for enhanced data collection efforts and establishing baselines;
(ii) share transformative practices, which have good potential for scale-up and replication, to enhance women’s leadership and water resilience and security, including countries’ experiences in implementing efforts to promote gender equality in the water sector and foster women’s participation in policy making.
(iii) Form a multi-stakeholder platform, the 'Inclusion Roundtable' to exchange ideas and views on how to accelerate women's inclusion in water.
(iv) Promote investments in gender equity in the water sector.

Progress will be tracked through:
1. ADB's corporate results framework which measures the proportion of committed water sector operations that support gender mainstreaming efforts.
2. During annual 'Inclusion Roundtable' meetings where partners will convene and share progress on promoting women's inclusion in water, through their respective activities.

Expected Impact

Water insecurity has a disproportionate effect on women and girls, in terms of likelihood of food insecurity, personal safety concerns, vulnerability to disasters, and water-borne disease risks. Similarly, women are significantly underrepresented in water leadership roles, where critical decisions on water investments and allocation of water resources are made. Addressing these inequalities, including access to safely managed water supply and sanitation, and water resources, as well as ensuring that women are well-represented as water leaders, policymakers and professionals, is essential to accelerate progress on the SDGs, particularly SDGs 5 and 6.

By mobilizing financing, knowledge and partnerships, this initiative will help to promote women's water security by addressing inequalities, and promoting women's leadership in the water sector, thereby accelerating progress towards SDG 5 and SDG 6.

Partners

National Water and Sanitation Agency (Brazil), Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (Philippines), Asian Development Bank, Australian Water Partnership, Asia Pacific Water Forum, Deltares, Global Water Partnership, International Water Management Institute, Northwestern University, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Sanitation and Water For All, Public Utilities Board Singapore, Stockholm International Water Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Water Environment Federation, World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, UN-Water, UNESCO, Aqua for All, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation, DAI, FCDO, InterAmerican Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Kingdom of the Netherlands, EC-IFAS, Veolia Japan, World Bank, Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor.

Additional information

Water for All: Inclusive and Equitable Clean Water Supply and Safe Sanitation for Women and Girls
https://youtu.be/2yJ7WSuL7NE

SDGS & Targets

Goal 5

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

5.1

End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere

5.1.1

Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non‑discrimination on the basis of sex

5.2

Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation

5.2.1

Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age

5.2.2

Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence

5.3

Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation

5.3.1

Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18

5.3.2

Proportion of girls and women aged 15-49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, by age

5.4

Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate

5.4.1

Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location

5.5

Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life

5.5.1

Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments

5.5.2

Proportion of women in managerial positions

5.6

Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences

5.6.1

Proportion of women aged 15-49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care

5.6.2

Number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee full and equal access to women and men aged 15 years and older to sexual and reproductive health care, information and education

5.a

Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws

5.a.1

(a) Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure

5.a.2

Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control

5.b

Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women

5.b.1

Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex

5.c

Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels

5.c.1

Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment

Goal 6

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

6.1

By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

6.1.1

Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services

6.2

By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations

6.2.1

Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water

6.3

By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

6.3.1

Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated

6.3.2

Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality

6.4

By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity

6.4.1

Change in water-use efficiency over time

6.4.2

Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources

6.5

By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

6.5.1

Degree of integrated water resources management

6.5.2

Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation

6.6

By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes

6.6.1

Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time

6.a

By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies

6.a.1

Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan

6.b

Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

6.b.1

Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management

SDG 14 targets covered

Name	Description

Deliverables & Timeline

31 December, 2025

90% of ADB's committed water sector operations are categorized as 'gender sensitive'

30 June, 2023

Transformative gender practices to promote women's inclusion in water documented and disseminated

31 December, 2025

Asian Water Development Outlook 2025 aims to better measure women's water security

Resources mobilized

Financing (in USD)

ADB will earmark technical assistance funding to support project design to ensure that opportunities for promote gender equality in water operations and maximized, and to support knowledge management

Staff / Technical expertise

ADB staff time will be allocated to achieve the deliverables, through project design and implementation, and supporting knowledge management

Partnership Progress