Women, Society and Water Technologies: Lessons for Bureaucracy

Abstract

Water technologies are increasingly regarded as pivotal to the process of societal development. One arena of importance is the delivery of water to society through comprehensive water supply programs that aim at ensuring ‘safe’ water for all. The principal target group in these programs is women, whose development is believed to be promoted through improved water facilities offering them greater convenience, better health and enhanced socio-economic opportunities. These programs can be seen as having three essential aspects, namely technology, people and institutions. Of these, the responsibilities of designing technologies for supplying water, creating institutional frameworks for their execution and implementing the program at the people’s end for their benefit all lie with development bureaucracies. But the extent to which these bureaucracies can be sensitive to the socio-cultural contexts of the communities and the women for whom the program interventions are designed and implemented remains problematic. This article explores the gender dimensions of the socio-cultural context of water and how this may play a role in the adoption and management of improved water technologies. A perspective on the lessons for planning bureaucracies is offered to make the concerned technologies more efficient, effective and sustainable.