Response to The International Water Association's Webinar on International Women's Day 2023

International Women's Day 2023 rested on the agenda of 'Embrace Equity'. Equity, that 'equal opportunities aren't enough'; more work must be done to close the gender gap in order to reach SDG 5 of gender equality.  

The International Water Association (IWA) held their annual International Women's Day webinar series this year, addressing the role of African women working in the WASH sector. 5 speakers from 5 different countries (Fig.1) spoke openly, honestly and motivatingly about their career experiences.


This webinar sparked contemplation and really allowed me to hone in on the importance of listening to female voices. As WASH organisations aim to 'mainstream gender' in their inclusion and equity promises, these women reiterated to me the importance of doing so. Not only that, but a reminder that whilst we must listen to women, we must also remember that not every women's experience is the same (Ndesamburo, 2012: p.454), that these speakers all come from very different backgrounds. As Maha illustrates the struggle of balancing work and family life in the context of North African-Arab cultural norms, Chataigne comes at questions from a basis of working in a war torn DRC. Their realities are immensely varied, reinforcing the benefit that holistic and nuanced approaches to the WASH can provide. 



Lessons Learnt:


  1. That women need mentors. Within the sector, there are not enough female mentors to help upcoming female leaders. Female mentorship can be so beneficial, when male counterparts access mentorship from other men already in their field. 

  2. That the working environment of the Water sector is not conducive to women, so we must speak up for ourselves. Women remain under-represented and do not experience equal levels of employment, with only 23% of engineers and managers, female, working in water utilities (Fig.2).

  3. That women should seek collaboration and delegate tasks. This includes top-up and bottom-down collaboration, involving indigenous knowledge and male leaders in power. In order to decolonise, we must involve indigenous knowledge and languages, as they carry immense importance and solutions for the future of development (Ngũgĩ, 1998).

  4. The need to balance family and work life, and that is okay. I think it's interesting how often women are not able to speak on how they desire both a home life and a professional life. In Egypt, out of 25 waste-water companies, there is only 1 female chairman. When Maha Khallaf confronted decision makers on this statistic, she was told that women do not want to stay late at work. She calls for decision makers to encourage women and realise the untapped female talent pool! 



.....


Ultimately, this was a calling out of inequality, but also a celebration of the work that is going on today. This webinar provided a generalised but also detailed insight. We heard from real women making real change and I couldn't help but leave the webinar feeling incredibly motivated and inspired. 


Comments

  1. Charlotte Sheridan Tray4 January 2024 at 06:32

    Hello Elizabeth! I also feel truly inspired by this blog post. I think events such as these bring much needed attention to such a vital topic, thank you for sharing! I cant wait to see how this blog series continues to develop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elizabeth Wales6 January 2024 at 14:54

      Thanks so much Charlotte, glad to hear you are enjoying this series. I'm thoroughly enjoying learning more about these topics and expanding my knowledge base, when there is so much more to learn!

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