Gender and Social Inclusion
What does GESI mean?
CIWA is working for a world with gender equality, which means changing the norms and expectations about female and male roles and changing power relations within governments, companies, institutions, and households.
It is also working to improve social inclusion and the dignity of people who are disadvantaged because of their identity so they can participate fully and equally in society. Social Inclusion assumes that men and women are not homogeneous but are stratified by age, race, religion, ethnic origin, beliefs and practices, and socio-cultural contexts.
Understanding Gender and Social Inclusion
Gender is:
- About women, girls, men, and boys, and the associated norms, behaviors, and roles as well as the relationships among these groups. Gender is considered to be a social construct and its definition can vary among societies and change over time. CIWA wishes to adopt a gender-inclusive approach that recognizes that some people prefer to use non-binary terms to identify themselves.
Gender is not:
- Only about women and girls: Men and boys should also be part of the GESI equation
- Only women’s responsibility: For real change to happen, everyone needs to be involved
- A Western or foreign concept: Gender equality is a global goal articulated in national, regional, and international commitments and treaties to which many countries worldwide are signatories
- An attempt to take away the rights of men and boys: Human Rights are universal, which means that they apply to all human beings
- Only an issue for gender specialists: Relying solely on gender specialists cannot tackle the main drivers of gender inequality and social exclusion. Everyone needs to be involved and committed to equality and inclusiveness.
Purpose
CIWA’s new Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) Framework will guide its operations to ensure that CIWA works to improve gender equality throughout the management of water resources and development of water infrastructure projects. CIWA’s Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) Framework highlights CIWA’s approach and commitment to integrating gender and social inclusion considerations within the context of transboundary water management in sub-Saharan Africa. Highlighting the importance of ensuring that GESI considerations are applied across multiple sectors and multiple layers where CIWA works, the framework seeks to contribute towards transformative change to achieve gender equality and social inclusion.
Approach
The framework:
- Builds upon lessons learned to apply a gender and social inclusion lens within the context of transboundary water management;
- Provides a strategic focus to scale up GESI across the different levels and sectors where CIWA works;
- Articulates key action points for CIWA to take to advance gender equality and social inclusion; and
- Reinforces the World Bank Group’s commitment to gender and social inclusion as articulated in its Gender Strategy (FY2016-2023).
The GESI Framework builds upon the evolution of gender thinking globally as well as drawing upon the findings and lessons learned from a baseline study on CIWA’s performance on gender and social inclusion undertaken in 2020. A literature review, online surveys, and consultations with CIWA staff, country and development partners contributed to the formulation of the framework. It also builds upon experiences and learning from CIWA’s existing efforts to promote and support integrating GESI aspects into its work.
Theory of Change
Expected Results
Water resource management, sustainable development, and gender are interlinked and must be addressed in a holistic manner. CIWA is working to integrate GESI throughout the project cycle and at all levels and sectors of transboundary institutions. Gender-transformative approaches should be based on deep gender analysis and understanding of local and institutional contexts. Ensuring that all staff and partners apply a GESI lens to the work within the transboundary water context is critical to CIWA’s commitment to facilitating equal opportunities for women and other vulnerable populations that operate within the areas where CIWA works.
KEY POINTS:
1. Adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to gender and social inclusion
2. Strengthen internal and partner capacity on gender and social inclusion
3. Bridge GESI knowledge and data gaps
4. Ensure monitoring and evaluation is sensitive to gender and social inclusion.
Biodiversity and Conservation
Whether rural Africans can sustain their livelihoods by working in agriculture, fishing, or the wildlife and tourism sectors depends on the health of rivers and other freshwater ecosystems that support biodiversity. Unsustainable fishing, water pollution, and climate change threaten biodiversity and the food security of millions, with increasing droughts and floods an existential risk.
Purpose
The CIWA’s work to understand and leverage water’s role and relationship to nature is a strategic priority. It is providing robust, long-term support for water-related conservation programs in Sub-Saharan Africa and exploring ways to better align transboundary water cooperation efforts with biodiversity conservation goals.
Approach
CIWA is identifying opportunities at the intersection of transboundary water management and freshwater biodiversity conservation and is supporting a range of biodiversity-related activities.
In East Africa, for example, CIWA has helped governments and river basin organizations strengthen governance mechanisms and the knowledge base to make more informed and inclusive decisions related to biodiversity. It is helping improve water quality in the Lake Victoria Basin, thus reducing environmental degradation. In the Lake Chad Basin, CIWA supported an integrated approach to the development of a water security program, which included examining the potential for nature-based solutions as a key instrument involving watershed management.
Expected Results
Biodiversity conservation will support more climate-resilient communities that are better equipped to plan for and mitigate climate-related shocks, support livelihoods, sustain health and life, and improve economies.
Climate Resilience
From droughts to floods to increasingly variable rainfall patterns, climate change continued its relentless march across Sub-Saharan Africa, wreaking havoc on access to water and livelihoods. With a rapidly growing population in the Sahel, for example, water availability is expected to decrease in the region by up to 70 percent by 2100.
Climate change poses a major threat to poverty reduction and other long-term development goals.
Purpose
To support the alignment of development and climate objectives, the World Bank has launched the Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR), a key diagnostic tool to help governments, private sector investors, citizens, and development partners prioritize the most impactful actions to reduce GHGs and boost resilience and adaptation while delivering on broader development objectives.
In FY23, CIWA contributed to the creation of a CCDR for the Sahel region, which estimated that climate shocks could force as many as 13.5 million more Sahelians into poverty by 2050 if urgent climate adaptation measures are not taken.
Approach
NCCR, working with the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), Nile Basin Discourse (NBD), and Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), is improving flood and drought resilience in the region. It is building and enhancing the robustness of early-warning systems for droughts and riverine and flash floods, developing gender-sensitive early-warning dissemination strategies and awareness programs, creating a flood management investment roadmap, and conducting capacity building for national governments.
The Southern Africa Drought Resilience Initiative (SADRI), which closed at the end of this FY, advanced an integrated multi-sector and multi-level approach to regional drought resilience in 16 Member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
SADRI worked with countries, cities, and SADC to adopt a unified approach to drought risk assessment under three sectoral pillars—cities, energy systems, and livelihoods and food security—along with a crosscutting “umbrella” pillar.
Expected Results
CIWA continues to emphasize the importance of the hidden resource of groundwater to help countries and river basins cope with diminishing surface water and to boost water security, reduce poverty, and mitigate climate shocks. Projects such as the Sahel Groundwater Initiative and Untapping Resilience are generating knowledge and helping improve the management and use of groundwater.
Fragility, Conflict and Violence
CIWA is deepening its support for 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that are grappling with fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). CIWA remains engaged in four high-priority FCV-affected regions – the Horn of Africa, West and Central Sahel, Lake Chad, and the Great Lakes.
Purpose
The challenging landscape for water resources management and development in Sub-Saharan Africa is exponentially greater in countries affected by FCV. Institutions tend to be weaker, and infrastructure and data-driven knowledge and information are scarcer. CIWA works to shore up and improve institutional capacity, build more sustainable infrastructure, improve data and information services, and build resilience and cooperation among FCV countries.
CIWA’s is committed to engaging high-level stakeholders in negotiating agreements that foster peaceful management of transboundary African water resources. Learn about CIWA Program’s approach in our FCV framework (Flip book available below).
Approach
In the Horn of Africa, CIWA is engaged in the borderland areas to strengthen the ability of communities to cope with, and adapt to, climate shocks through enhanced management and use of groundwater resources. CIWA is also improving mechanisms for cooperation on water resources management and development in the Nile Basin. CIWA is helping build the analytical and institutional foundation to enhance transboundary cooperation on water security in the Sahel region and Lake Chad, both high-priority areas deeply affected by FCV.
Expected Results
CIWA’s work will strengthen institutional capacity, help countries and regional entities prepare for investments in water infrastructure, and improve the use of data for better decision-making about increased floods, droughts and other climate shocks, investments, and cooperation across transboundary waters.
Data Initiatives
CIWA is enhancing access to Remote Sensing data and data platforms to address constraints to water resources management, enable partners to make evidence-based decisions, and promote transboundary water cooperation.
Purpose
Sophisticated global data technology is enabling CIWA to scale up its information-related support across the region. Its Water Data Revolution (WDR) technical cooperation helps countries and regional organizations improve data collection, data management, analysis, and interpretation using specific applications such as Remote Sensing data.
Approach
CIWA’s WDR is building the capacity of partners to make decisions grounded in evidence and use cutting-edge technologies while creating a collaborative atmosphere to address challenges. The WDR is expected to form a pipeline to CIWA’s investment projects.
The technical cooperation supports selected engagements through a bottom-up, user-driven approach to identify needs and a top-down approach to connect innovative technologies such as RS tools, satellite imagery, and data platforms to users. Workshops and training on RS data analysis tools and uses for water management applications are building the capacity of transboundary water organizations, coordinating with partners such as Digital Earth Africa, International Water Management Institute, and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. A data platform will be adapted to a specified water management application for selected clients.
Expected Results
This project helped address the hurdles faced by governments and development professionals to access and use This initiative will help countries improve their capacity to collect, store, and analyze data and information to improve water resources management. It will facilitate evidence-based decision-making by reducing the cost and complexity of water data and establishing connections with data platforms that facilitate the translation of information. It will improve flood-forecasting, monitoring of surface water quality, tracking of water diversions and allocations, and quantification of water storage.