Gender in Irrigation
In spite of their many functions, WUB have in many cases limited capacity. PSI carried out a study of their capacity during the first phase, in the coast, where the state of the art irrigation practices are found. The study established that only 65% of them have acceptable water management. As a result, PSI held training and capacity building programs and found that the majority of participants were male. However, women do most of the agriculture work in rural areas as a result of male migration to the cities. Nevertheless, their representation in WUB is limited. Furthermore, in the board, most times they hold non relevant positions or their presence is nominal.
The PSI encouraged women to participate and water management in trainings through some pilots held in the Highland municipalities of Cajamarca, JunÃn and Arequipa with the support of the World Bank (a US$ 30,000 donation from the Gender Action Plan). The pilots did a diagnosis on the audience; established the baseline, objectives, and indicators; developed a program for male and community sensitization; and obtained quantitative and qualitative results on women participation and leadership. For the future, PSI intends to mainstream all gender issues in projects, thus helping increase gender equity and therefore democracy in water management.
- There is a video on the pilots Here
Read more about this topic: Irrigation In Peru
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