International Waters learning Exchange & Resource Network

Gender-Sensitive Water Assessment, Monitoring and Reporting

Caption:Tony Sebastian 2021 "A fishing Village Market in Kerala"

In 2014 WWAP started a ground-breaking project on gender-sensitive water assessment, monitoring and reporting and created  an innovative  methodology to collect sex-disaggregated water data and identify gender –sensitive key indicators.

An international Working Group consisting of about 30 experts coming from different regions of the world and with different background have joined WWAP to create the “Working Group on Sex-Disaggregated Data Collection” and provide“professional and up-to-date information, review, and expert advice on theoretical considerations and methodologies for the Toolkit.

In April 2014, an inception workshop has held at WWAP HQ, during which the Working Group developed and tested priority indicators with its partners. As follow-up a second workshop was held in December 2014 aimed at finalizing the WWAP toolkit of the Gender Sensitive Water Assessment and Reporting project.

In the period  April 2014 - August 2015, identified about 100 indicators, and selected a list of high-priority gender-sensitive indicators for water assessment and monitoring. The key-indicators are included in the WWAP Toolkit  (Tool 1, 2).

  • Gender and Water conference in East London, South Africa 2014
  • World Water Forum, South Korea 2015
  • World Water Week, Stockholm 2014 & 2015
  • UNESCO General Conference 2015
  • 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 2016
  • 6th Africa Water Week, 2016
  • World Water Week, 2016
  • Regional Workshop on Empowerment of Women in Sustainable Management of Water Resources, 2016
  • GEF IW Conference, 2016
  • WWAP Capacity Building on Water and Sustainable Development Training, 2016

Project Overview and Phases

The project will develop through four phases, with the help of international experts in the Working Group on Sex-Disaggregated Indicators

PHASE I – Production of the Toolkit for gender sensitive water monitoring
(2014 – 2015)

WWAP has currently closed PHASE I of the project – the production of the Toolkit for gender sensitive water monitoring. The Toolkit is composed of four tools:

  1. Five high-priority water indicators for which sex-disaggregated data is needed, as identified by the Working Group;
  2. Specific methodologies for collecting and assessing such data;
  3. A guideline manual for ‘in the field’ data gathering with specific insights for different world regions;
  4. A questionnaire for practitioners on sex-disaggregated data collection.

All the Tools from the Toolkit can be downloaded from the top right of this page.

PHASE II – Pilot projects in the field
(2015 – 2016)

The Toolkit is currently ready for pilot testing in the field. The collection of sex-disaggregated data in selected pilot areas will be implemented in different world regions in cooperation with national authorities, research institutes, and international organizations. Technical staff of national institutions, local practitioners and researchers will collect sex-disaggregated data by use of the questionnaire.

PHASE III – Validation and dissemination of results
(2016 – 2017)

During the third phase, the indicators and methodology will be validated against fieldwork results. All indicators and methodologies will be analyzed and verified regarding material feasibility, applicability, impact on policies, transformative potential, assessment capability, and effective support to countries. The potential to create a global assessment toolkit for gender-sensitive water monitoring will then be evaluated.

An international conference on Sex-disaggregated Water Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting will close Phase III of the project, and the final results will be widely distributed. 

PHASE IV – Capacity development
(from July 2017)

A series of training modules on how to collect, monitor and report on gender-sensitive water data will be implemented. The modules will be specifically tailored for technical staff of national institutions. 

For info please contact: Francesca Greco, Gender and Water Focal Point (f.greco@unesco.org)