{"id":15184318,"date":"2023-03-09T13:51:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T06:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opendevelopmentmekong.net\/?page_id=15184318"},"modified":"2023-03-09T13:55:02","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T06:55:02","slug":"women-in-water-governance-platform","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/opendevelopmentmekong.net\/programmes\/women-in-water-governance-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in Water Governance Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Co-creating safe-space to amplify and legitimize women’s knowledge and voices in water and river governance<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

The Women in Water Governance (WIWG) Platform Project, led by the Open Development Initiative (ODI), is undertaking co-creation to develop a social innovation solution to support women to share knowledge, connect with one another, learn, and amplify their voices and legitimize their knowledge related to water and river governance. In February 2023, the 12-person all-female steering committee convened to begin the process of creating this safe space, with security safeguards, a robust governance structure, and initial wireframe ideas for the online space, backed up by technology infrastructure that establishes a baseline of no electricity, no hardware and connectivity, no literacy or digital literacy, with a minimum of start-up funds to build the necessary infrastructure. The project’s initial pilot region is the Lower Mekong Basin countries and Myanmar, but engages a gender-balanced Advisory Board that brings global perspectives and transdisciplinary expertise. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Background<\/b><\/p>\r\n

At the <\/span>Women and Rivers Summits<\/span><\/a> in 2019 and 202, women leaders in water governance—including community leaders, activists, and members of civil society—have expressed an interest in a safe, inclusive digital space to support collaborative work across cultures and languages. Because networking and discussion spaces (both on- and offline) are typically male-dominated, women face barriers to participating, including cultural practices that minimize women’s participation. A pilot scoping study (2020) identified additional barriers including cultural biases leading to women having less time for and access to digital tools such as smartphones, computers and affordable data. They are also less likely to have the skills to use digital tools.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Research conducted by International Rivers (IR) aims to address the lack of women’s leadership in the water governance sectors. Two main needs emerged from the consultations with the Women in Water Congress: firstly, the need for more targeted leadership programming for women; and secondly, a dedicated platform for women leaders to engage in knowledge sharing and storytelling. IR along with other partners will commence an intensive programme called the<\/span> Women and Rivers Accelerator<\/span><\/a> to support the first need. Due to the ODI’s focus on the intersection of digital development, environmental governance, and advocacy, ODI is in the best position to address the second identified need and will partner with IR, Oxfam, and other academic and national partners to address it under this initiative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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