Abstract
Gender mainstreaming figures high in the post-1994 policies and laws in South Africa in general, and water policies in particular. This chapter analyses the implementation of these policies in two domains: within DWAF as a gender-sensitive workplace with sound gender training of its staff, and externally in the performance of DWAF in implementing its mandate for the benefit of all its citizens, in particular poor black women. In this task, gender concerns were effectively mainstreamed as part of the general efforts to democratise water management, especially in the creation of new equitable institutions such as Catchment Management Agencies and in public participation processes. Changes appeared more difficult in existing male-dominated institutions, though. With regard to the core issue of improving women’s access to water, the water services efforts implicitly benefitted women in particular. In contrast, women’s access to water for small-scale productive uses has deteriorated.
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Acknowledgement
This chapter was prepared with the support of PN17 “Integrated water resources management for improved rural livelihoods”, a project of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food.
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van Koppen, B., Schreiner, B., Karar, E. (2010). Mainstreaming Gender in Water Management in South Africa. In: Schreiner, B., Hassan, R. (eds) Transforming Water Management in South Africa. Global Issues in Water Policy, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9367-7_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9367-7_10
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