Learning from practice: systemic changes to support women in water
The Community of Women in Water is pleased to host its annual public webinar with Equal Aqua World Bank, International Water Management Institute, and Agenda for Change.
This event is open to everyone. Registration is required.
Across the water sector we hear that women need to be in more leadership roles, and the number of initiatives and organizations focused on supporting female leaders in the water sector has increased in the last five years. But the data highlighting female leadership often reflect very little change has taken place. Addressing gender inequality is complex and requires systems change. We need policies that actually change organizations and behaviors. What are effective ways of getting women into leadership roles and helping them stay in those roles? What can we learn from research and practical experiences? Which investments and actions are more likely to deliver results?
To make this event truly global, we will be offering live interpretation in Spanish, French and Portuguese. The recording will be available for those unable to attend at the set time.
Speakers include:
Keynote Speaker—Manohara Khadka, IWMI Country Representative for Nepal
Panelist—Bethlehem Mengistu, Global Coordinator, Agenda for Change
Panelist—Lucy Cárdenas, Organismo Técnico de la Administración de los Servicios de Saneamiento (OTASS), Peru
Moderator –Kathryn Pharr, Founder, Community of Women in Water
Keynote and Panelists’ details
Manohara Khadka is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in Natural Resource Management (NRM) and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI). She previously held roles as the NRM Portfolio Manager and Senior GESI Advisor at the Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal, and as an NRM and Gender Specialist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu. Manohara has authored over 40 peer-reviewed articles and reviewed more than 70 external project proposals, policies, and articles related to water/irrigation, WASH, NRM, gender, and governance issues. Her unique skills include coordinating multilateral and bilateral programs/projects in the NRM sector, integrating governance and gender perspectives into policy and research, and working with organizations like SDC, DFID, DFAT, USAID, UNFPA, ADB, Finland, and FAO.
Bethlehem Menistu is a long-time global WASH advocate with a passion for building collaboration, partnerships, and systems approaches that will collectively enable the achievement of SDG 6. She comes to Agenda for Change with more than 17 years of experience in the development sector and deep knowledge of African policy, spanning the areas of WASH, nutrition, gender equality, and education. Through previous roles with WaterAid, Bethlehem has been involved in Agenda for Change since the collaboration was founded. Furthermore, Bethlehem is an accomplished leader with expertise in strategic planning, development policy, and advocacy. Throughout her career, she has provided technical advice to governments, development partners, and technical teams and held multiple leadership roles where she advanced programmatic impact and influence in Ethiopia, and more widely in East Africa and parts of the Asia region.
Lucy Cárdenas was director of the Social Management Office of the Ministry of Housing and is current communications coordinator of the Program for the Modernization of the EPS of the OTASS in Perú. Her experience includes analyzing the national strategy to reduce gender gaps in water institutions, working with a national regulator as well as 50 utilities to establish a gender baseline and design action plans to promote female participation in the sector.