WWW: Women Water Warriors
Aseem Kumar
Director @ Maithri Aquatech Private Limited | Member of a passionate team revolutionizing Drinking/Potable Water
Good News is that Focus on INCLUSION & DIVERSITY is growing worldwide, the sad part is that the scale and speed are not matching up organically. This raises a serious yet oft repeated question: why don't we want/accept change??
Inclusion and Diversity are unarguably natural- Why do we make these issues so tough and complicated that we need education, debates, discussions, dialogues, campaigns, advocacy, global meets & events etc. etc.
It has a simple yet rarely understood/accepted explanation.
In the name of progress we have abused Mother Earth so much that the world now is on the cusp of extinction. For our comforts & luxuries, we have innovated products, services, experiences with cruel disregard to nature and now we find ourselves at the crossroads of misery, fear, destruction, pandemics, extreme weather conditions, melting glaciers and rising oceans, severe threat to biodiversity and natural resources including water.
Similarly, by creating discriminatory categories as suited to the rich and powerful-humanity has defied nature and the results are staring us in the face.
One in six people worldwide experience discrimination in some form, with women and people with disabilities disproportionately affected. Inequality threatens long-term social and economic development, jeopardizes social cohesion, harms poverty reduction and causes disparities in opportunities and outcomes, impeding economic efficiency.
Diversity, equity and inclusion are different but complementary concepts. A business is required to implement all three aspects to reap the full benefits of a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce contributing a range of skills, knowledge, and experience. Diversity, equity and inclusion go hand in hand.?
Diversity often focuses on quantity: The representation of different groups in an enterprise. Business efforts to drive diversity aim to ensure that people from a range of groups experience equality of opportunity and treatment in access to employment, development, promotion and pay. Diversity refers not only to similarities and differences linked to personal characteristics such as age, disability, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation and people living with HIV but also similarities and differences such as values, workstyles, caring responsibilities, hierarchical levels and work roles. Each person has multiple groups they identify with which can change over time, potentially influencing and shifting their employment opportunities and outcomes.
While diversity tends to focus on quantity, equity and inclusion are focused on quality. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances, that historically, some groups of people have experienced discrimination and that reaching equal outcomes will not be achieved by treating everyone the same. Equity and reaching equal outcomes require the allocation of resources and opportunities according to circumstance and need.
Inclusion is relational, it is about the experience of individuals and groups in the workplace. A person’s feeling of inclusion at work is related to their personal characteristics, their own behavior and that of others and the environment they are in. Full inclusion happens when individuals experience a balance between belonging with others at work - feeling they are part of the whole enterprise – as well as being seen, understood, and valued as an individual, with a unique identity, skills, and experience.?
Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion throughout business operations is an important step in tackling inequality and eliminating discrimination worldwide.?
Freedom from discrimination is a fundamental human right and is essential for workers to be able to choose their employment freely, develop their full potential and reap economic rewards based on merit.?
Embracing a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce is good for business. DEI initiatives enhance creativity and innovation, broaden talent attraction and retention, increase employee engagement and enhance reputation.
On the Social/Human/Societal front, each one of us is responsible for this non-inclusion both individually and collectively. Right from our homes where still unfortunately sons are treated preferentially over daughters, communities where humans same as we all are continue to face humiliation, pity, inhuman behavior, disrespect, social exclusion on the basis of gender, cast, race, economic status, skin color, physical/mental challenges. This seems to have become a part of our DNA.
Non-discrimination is rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights upon which international human rights principles are founded. Article 1 articulates the inalienable and inherent rights that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." Article 2 provides that “no one shall be discriminated against in the enjoyment of the rights laid down in the Declaration on the grounds of "race, color, sex, language, religion, political or another opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or another status."
The Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact reiterate these universal rights and, aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, drive the contribution companies can make toward the enjoyment of human rights, including the right to equality and non-discrimination. (https://unglobalcompact.org/take-action/action/dei)
I want to re-emphasize the criticality of inclusion of Women in Water as a game changer for all of us and the planet.
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Around the world, women are largely responsible for fetching and using water for household purposes.? But the sector is yet to fully recognize or realize the benefit from women’s contributions as water managers and providers. The gender gap in water-related employment needs to be closed if the world is to reach its commitments on water and sanitation for all.
NOW is an opportune moment for change......
Billions of people still lack access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation, while rising urbanization is likely to exacerbate this crisis even more. Meanwhile, the sector is changing; modern utilities are becoming more customer-oriented, while new technology and approaches are changing the very nature of work itself. These fundamental shifts, together with an aging workforce, inadequate skillsets and other challenges, make issues of human resource management in the water sector even more important.
Focusing on water and sanitation utilities, the report, Women in Water Utilities: Breaking Barriers, gathered data from 64 utilities in 28 low and middle-income economies, bolstered with focus group discussion and interviews with water utility staff, and secondary data from a global benchmarking database (IBNET – The International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities), among other sources.
The report found that while all employees face certain challenges at different stages of their careers, women in particular face barriers to joining, staying and growing in a sector that is so dominated by men. Though contexts are different, some of these barriers – such as gender norms, lack of role models, harassment, or lack of women-friendly environment – surfaced in all regions reviewed for the study.?
The report looked at four stages of an employee lifecycle: attraction, recruitment, retention and advancement, and at each stage identifies both challenges and opportunities for service providers who want to improve their gender diversity. For example, in many countries women are not attracted to the water sector because of prevailing social norms that view technical jobs, such as engineering, as inappropriate for women. Utilities can attract more women by developing outreach programs for schools, or sponsoring scholarships for women in science and technology. In terms or recruitment, women often face a biased hiring process. Through simple interventions, such as gender-neutral job descriptions, or gender balanced hiring panels, utilities can go a long way in expanding their pool of candidates to qualified women. Retention of women in water utilities is often hampered by a lack of gender-sensitive policies and a discriminatory workplace environment. However, utilities can address these challenges in retaining a skilled female workforce by introducing family-friendly policies or improving working facilities. Finally, in terms of advancement, women often face the challenge that they are not offered the same opportunities in training and promotions as their male counterparts. This can be addressed by simple measures such as increasing training options, offering women mentorship and networking programs, and introducing targets for gender composition in leadership positions.?(https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2019/08/27/breaking-barriers)
As we commemorate Women’s Day 2024 under the theme “Invest in Women”, let’s focus on empowering women in the water sector. This has to be multifaceted- Water for Women, Women in Water, Impact that Water Scarcity has on Women Health, Education, Respect, Dignity, Sanitation/Hygiene, Livelihoods, Physical and Sexual Abuse, Child Marriages and so on.
The cover picture features me standing tall with an exceptional Woman Water Warrior, Ms. Ujiaro Bai from a small highly water deficient rural area in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. She is not educated yet she took it upon herself to create water-positivity, caring for and harvesting natural water, waging a war against pollution/contamination transforming her community into an oasis of water conservation, water literacy and self-empowerment. Indeed an inspiring case in point for breaking barriers! She is the force enabling me to stand tall!!
She was celebrated as the Woman Water Warrior, 2024 at the recently held 8th India Water Week at New Delhi in September.
I am pleased to share Asian Development Bank's comprehensive report on Gender Equality Water Security released a few days ago. This is great food for thought and action.
www.maithriaqua.com Reimagining Water, Enabling Life