Stories and publications
Stories and publications on gender published by IRC together with other organisations.
International women’s day
08 Mar 12
8th of March. On this day you always ask yourself: am I doing enough? Am I contributing all I can to create more equal gender relations in the world? Are we? It’s been a long time since my job was exclusively focused on gender equity- in water of course. I felt that all the stereotypes applied: having a gender expert was the excuse for others to not work on it, being the gender expert diminished my credibility to have an opinion on technical matters, in spite of being an engineer. These are two sides of the same coin of course. Now I’m no long a gender expert, but responsible for a WASH programme. Gender has become one of many priorities. Sure, we mainstream gender equity in our programmes, we have indicators, trainings, materials, but are we doing enough?
Gender perspectives in sanitation and hygiene
08 Aug 11
In 2009 gender specialists were asked to review the current Indonesia Sanitation Sector Development Program (ISSDP) activities. On the basis of these findings a gender strategy was developed for inclusion in the sanitation awareness campaigns and city sanitation strategies in Indonesia.
Can we close the loop by making money from poop? Gladys Quispe thinks so
17 Mar 11
I wipe the dust from my eyes for what feels like the hundredth time, resist the urge to scratch the nagging bites around my ankles, and lean in closer to hear what Gladys Quispe has to say, as the squeaking pigs and clucking chickens compete with the feisty Bolivian woman.
Gender is also about men
08 Sep 10
This photo was taken by Sohrab Baghri, WASH coordinator for ACF Sierra Leone & Liberia, during a visit to a slum area in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This man was not only carrying a baby on his back, but he was also fetching water from a local well for his family.
India: Gender in community-managed sanitation programme in Kerala
03 May 10
IRC’s Christine Sijbesma wrote the Innovative Activity Profile 3 India: Gender in community-managed sanitation programme in Kerala in the Gender and Agriculture Sourcebook (published by the World Bank, FAO and IFAD in 2008).
Making sanitation and hygiene services more gender equitable and fairer to the poor
04 Jun 09
City sanitation strategy planning in Indonesia focuses on equal involvement of women and men in all sanitation services. In the six cities taking part in an ISSDP programme poor women, men and children work in the informal sector for solid waste collection, segregation and recycling, as labourer and some as entrepreneurs. The work is an important source of income for poor families and helps reduce poverty.
Read more or download ISSDP Factsheet 7 Gender and Poverty Inclusive CSS.pdf (441.4 kB)
Photo story: Promoting sanitation with women and men, girls and boys in Banjarmasin, Indonesia
27 May 09
As part of her advisory work for the Indonesian Sanitation Sector Development Program (ISSDP) in 14 towns of Indonesia IRC’s Christine Sijbesma is assisting the programme on gender and participation. In April 2009 she and the local team faciltated a rapid and participatory assessment in two high-priority communities in Banjarmasin on sanitation needs by women and men. These assessments allow women and usually “forgotten” men to formulate demands for sanitation improvements. It gives pointers on their willingness and capacity to contribute in better-off, worse-off and in-between groups. It also provides insights in the degree of organization and influence of women and men and local cadres. The resulting scores give a ranking of the high-priority communities in terms of conditions, demand and organizational capacity, which helps high risk communities and the city sanitation working group to select the first community/ies for rapid action and a more likely quick success.
Summary paper on gender, water and sanitation
02 Apr 09
This summary paper gives a short overview of why gender-disaggregated data for water and sanitation are needed. It also states that data gathering needs to be improved and lists a number of recommendations on how to move forward.
GenderDataSanitation_Sum.pdf (2.9 MB)
Gender disaggregated data on water and sanitation
02 Apr 09
An expert meeting on gender disaggregated data in the watsan sector, in which IRC's Christine Sijbesma participated, was held in December 2008. This meeting had several main goals, namely to take stock of gender-disaggregated data on water and sanitation at global and regional levels, to identify obstacles to gender-disaggregated data capacity and collection and to identify data needs and priorities. Finally, recommendations were made on policies, practices and priorities to improve the state of gender-disaggregated data on water and sanitation. The final report of this meeting is available in the PDF.
0903 EGM Report.pdf (1.0 MB)
Health, Dignity and Economic progress: the way forward to gender equity
02 Apr 09
Three ministers of women’s affairs, water and rural development, from Ethiopia, India and Turkey met to discuss with experts and participants during the special session “Health, Dignity and Economic Progress: The Way Forward for Gender Equity”, on Monday 16th of March during the opening of the World Water Forum 5, Istanbul, Turkey.
Read more or Go to the full press release on the Women in Europe for a Common Future website
