STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION AND GENDER EQUITY IN IWRM

August 2014

Stakeholder Participation: Learning Objectives

▪Understanding who a stakeholder is and how to categorize stakeholders

▪Learn how to engage stakeholders effectively

▪Get guidance on how to sustain stakeholder participation

Stakeholder Participation & IWRM

▪ The Dublin Principles for IWRM:

Water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment

Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach involving users, technocrats and policy-makers at all levels

Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water

Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good

Why do we need stakeholder participation in IWRM?

▪Water is everybody’s business

▪Technocrats don’t always know stakeholders’ preferences

▪To inculcate sense of ownership amongst stakeholders

▪To get commitment to make implementation possible

Why do we need stakeholder participation?

▪ Broadens awareness of water resources issues▪ Provides windows of communication for new ideas and

feedback▪ Promotes equity in relationships between stakeholders▪ Promotes recognition and knowledge of social and cultural

value systems▪ Facilitates capacity building in water resources management

Who is a stakeholder?

▪People who want to or should be involved in a decision or action because they have some interest or stake in the outcome

What makes someone a stakeholder?

▪Have real or perceived interest in the resource or its users

▪ Believe management decisions will affect them

▪ Are located in or near areas about which decisions are being made

▪Have an interest in the decision-making process

▪ Pay for the decisions

▪ Are in a position of authority to review decisions

Stakeholder Inventory

▪Who are the potential beneficiaries?

▪Who might be adversely impacted?

▪Have vulnerable groups who may be impacted been identified?

▪Are gender interests adequately identified and represented?

Stakeholder inventory: categorization

▪Water users

▪Governmental institutions (including River Basin Organizations)

▪Civil society and NGO’s

▪Cooperating Partners

Stakeholder Categories

Stakeholder mobilization

▪It is important to recognize that not all stakeholders want to be involved and they may have very different reasons for participating

▪Focus on factual information

▪Decentralize to a local level

Stakeholder mobilization

Components of participation

▪Intensity – degree of participation

▪Instruments – mechanisms for engaging stakeholders

▪Incentives – what makes people participate

Intensity

▪The 4 levels of participation range from:

Passive information sharing

Consultation/seeking feedback

Collaboration/joint decision making

Empowerment/shared control

Information sharing

▪At the lower end of the participation scale

▪May involve disseminating information about an intended program

▪Communication is one-way rather than interactive

Consultation

▪ Involves asking people for their opinion about something

▪ Many consultative processes focus solely on obtaining ‘buy-in’ for an already planned activity

▪ People involved may have little to no responsibility in formulating plans or the decisions for water management, no obligation to incorporate their view

▪ Consultation can however be more or less participatory and can evolve into collaboration or shared control, and in the best scenarios can lead to greater networking and a sense of ownership

Collaboration

▪Active engagement of stakeholders

▪Formation of groups and networks to improve structures or practices

▪Stakeholder perspectives are taken seriously and acted upon

▪Stakeholders significantly influence actions, whether or not they initiated the collaboration

Empowerment and shared control

▪More stakeholder engagement than just collaboration

▪ Stakeholders assume control and ownership of water resources and make decisions accordingly

▪ Stakeholders accept responsibility for developing and implementing action plans

▪ Local participation is most sustainable at this level because the people concerned have a stake in maintaining structures or practices

Instruments for participation

▪Forums for communication

Meetings/workshops/conferences

Interviews/surveys

▪Institutions

Basin/sub-basin committees

Water user associations

Incentives for participation

▪Location – decisions that are being debated or made affect your backyard

▪Job – you are being paid to participate

▪Personal interest – you support a cause or a particular position and want to make sure that voice is heard

Where and how should stakeholders be involved?

Maintaining participation

▪Information dissemination

▪Capacity building of the stakeholders

▪Giving responsibility and clear roles

▪Initiating practical IWRM projects on the ground

▪Providing adequate and reliable services

Maintaining participation

▪Information dissemination

▪Capacity building of the stakeholders

▪Giving responsibility and clear roles

▪Initiating practical IWRM projects on the ground

▪Providing adequate and reliable service

Stakeholder organization and structure

▪ Purpose:To promote more equitable access to water

To promote better management of water and associated resources

To provide information on water and associated resources

To build awareness and capacity of basin community

To assist with conflict management

To facilitate participation of stakeholders

Stakeholder organization and structure

▪Forms:

River Basin Committee/ Catchment Council

Sub-basin committee/sub-catchment council

Water User Association

Issues and challenges

▪ To ensure that stakeholder structures are truly representative so that group interests are not compromised

▪ Tyranny of the powerful and eloquent/further marginalization of vulnerable groups

▪ To clearly articulate the benefits to be derived from participating

▪ Confidence and trust building amongst various stakeholder groups

▪ Stakeholder participation must not be a façade. Stakeholders’ views must be taken seriously

▪ Sustained involvement of stakeholders in the process comes at a substantial cost

Conclusions

▪Stakeholder participation

Is a very difficult process to implement

Needs much resources and skills

Is an on-going process

Needs action at different levels of society

Gender Equity

Definition of Gender▪ Gender is not only about Women or sex

as it is always perceived ▪ Sex is biological and cannot be changed ▪ Gender is defined as “socially determined

attributes, roles, activities and responsibilities connected to being male or female in a society”

▪ Gender attribute vary form society to society

▪ Influenced by factors such as class, religion, ethnicity etc.

▪ Gender is a social construct , therefore it can be changed.

What is Gender Mainstreaming?

▪ “put into ‘main’ stream---”

▪ A strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women and men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally and inequalities are not perpetuated.

How to consider gender issues

Importance of Gender Mainstreaming in water management

▪ To achieve gender equality. Man still dominate formal water management yet women play a central role in provision , safeguarding and management of water

▪ Water development and management should be based on participatory approach involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels

How to Mainstream Gender in WRM

▪ First phase:

Awareness of existing gender divisions and efforts. (Norms, values, beliefs, cultural styles & traditions)

▪Second Phase:

Gradual questioning of these divisions.

▪ Third Phase:

Increased awareness of gender.

Discussion Point:

▪Does gender equality mean 50/50- ? It is difficult to measure equality.

MWAZVITA