Water Policies in China: A Critical Perspective on Gender Equity

Abstract

China embarked on water reform in 2002 by revising the “Water Law of The People’s Republic of China” to promote participatory irrigation management to ensure water users’ access to water and enhance their participation in sustainable water management. This article analyses how social and gender equity is addressed at the national, local, and institutional levels in the water reform process, with particular attention to how strategic gender needs are addressed in water policies and institutions. The article shows how social equity is only partly covered in some of the policies and that not all policies and institutions are sensitive to social and gender issues. Many water-related aspects of policy fail to address gender equity in the explicit terms of women’s strategic gender needs. To ensure gender equity in future water policy, all policies and institutions in the water sector at central and at local levels should have a clear mandate to include a perspective on social and gender equity to address women’s strategic gender needs, particularly among water users who are small-scale producers.

Key Words:

• China
• gender equity
• integrated water resource management
• strategic gender needs
• water reform
• water user association