After the summit: women's access to water and policymaking in Brazil

Abstract

This article argues that following the Earth Summit, Brazil has pursued an ineffective water policy agenda, which has undermined women's right to safe water and adequate sanitation. It sets out some examples of women's involvement in water and sanitation programmes, and argues for the integration of strong gender perspectives in public policymaking and water distribution systems. The article concludes that development projects are currently falling short on tackling women's complex needs and interests in relation to water.

Keywords:

• women's health
• water and sanitation policy
• gender mainstreaming
• the Earth Summit
• Brazil

Notes

1. Gender mainstreaming is a strategy ‘which aims to ensure that all policies, strategies and implementation of projects and programmes are based on a full understanding of the contributions, potentials, priorities and needs of women and men and girls and boys.’ (Carolyn Hannan, Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women, presenting ‘Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in Environmental Management and Mitigation of Natural Disasters’, at a Roundtable Panel and Discussion organised by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women and the NGO Committee on the Status of Women in preparation for the 46th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women).

2. Chapter 24 is called ‘Global Action for Women towards Sustainable and Equitable Development’. It says:

[t]he international community has endorsed several plans of action and conventions for the full, equal and beneficial integration of women in all development activities… and that [e]ffective implementation of these programmes will depend on the active involvement of women in economic and political decision-making and will be critical to the successful implementation of Agenda 21.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marianna Leite

Marianna Leite, LL.B., LL.M., is an activist, an international legal consultant and a visiting fellow at the International Gender Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. She is mainly interested in gender mainstreaming, health and sanitation, public health policymaking, decentralisation and reproductive rights