Source Bulletin 'Water for Life' Special

IRC
Global/Internet, 01 Feb 05

Source Bulletin 'Water for Life' Special

Three Water for Life features in Source Bulletin

IRC has published a special issue of its Source Bulletin 39 (1 Feb 05) on World Water Day 2005, Water for Life, with one general feature article and two articles from West Africa and Latin America. These features from IRC and partners focus on water, gender and poverty alleviation. Water and sanitation are critical factors to alleviate poverty and hunger, for sustainable development, for environmental integrity, and for human health.
Communities have complex priorities for the use of water for economic activity and for household use. Men and women often have different priorities and responsibilities. A gender focus is not simply about ‘involving women’. It is about recognising the roles of men and women, and ensuring that the voices of women, who are mainly responsible for household water but who also want economic activity, are acted on.

The three features are:

- World Water Day marks launch of new Decade of Action – Water for Life

World Water Day - 22 March 2005 - marks the start of a new UN International Decade for Action on water. The Water for Life Decade 2005-2015 will boost the chances of achieving international water-related goals including those in the United Nations Millennium Declaration. http://www.irc.nl/page/16088

- West Africa: ‘Water for Life’ has meaning where it is a scarce resource

‘Water for life’ really means something in West Africa, where water is a precious resource, and in countries like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, sometimes very scarce.
http://www.irc.nl/page/16259

- Transform Water for Life into a decade for equity in Latin America

Latin America shows a high rate of water and sanitation coverage close to the millennium goals. However, the poorest groups have less access to water and sanitation and the least opportunity to participate in policy making.

Water provision during the last 10 years in Latin America has been characterised by privatisation schemes. The Buenos Aires concession, for example, functions in such a way that: “inclusion of new users is unfortunately not enough to avoid exclusion of a significant number of families on low incomes”. Many ‘low income’ families are headed by women.
The Water for Life decade should revise some of this neo liberal dogma in relation to water services. And gender equity in access to water resources should include men, rather than leaving these concerns to women, writes Mariela García, sociologist, Cinara, Universidad del Valle.
http://www.irc.nl/page/16260

Contact: Tettje van Daalen <daalen@irc.nl>