Nandita Singh

Women’s Participation in Local Water Governance: Understanding Institutional Contradictions

Abstract The participation of women in local water governance is currently envisaged as necessary for achieving sustainable management of water resources. Towards this end, institutions are being created in many developing countries enabling the participation of local people in the use and management of resources. How effective is the participation of women as makers and shapers within local water governance institutions—and how does their participation translate into benefits for their communities? How realistic is this participatory strategy in the traditional rural contexts of the developing world? Based on empirical evidence from rural India, where women do not constitute a homogenous group, this article seeks to explore how social and power differences among them thwart the beneficial effects of water governance in communities. The findings underscore the need to develop a holistic understanding of the institutional factors that differentiate among women and the implications of these on mechanisms of water governance put in place at the local level.

Indigenous Water Management Systems: Interpreting Symbolic Dimensions in Common Property Resource Regimes

ABSTRACT Water is a natural resource subject to management in many small-scale societies as common property. A dominant approach to understanding the sustainability of such common property resource (CPR) management regimes is the rational action model, which assumes that their successful governance is achieved through collective action based on a rationally constructed set of working rules. By presenting a holistic study of indigenous water management system in small-scale community setting in India, this article argues that the relationship between water resources and society extends beyond a materialistic mundane relationship, to incorporate a “symbolic” orientation. It concludes that rooted in the cosmology of the society, the indigenous water management system represents a mechanism to reinforce the symbolic constructions and also to fulfill water-related needs that cut across material and nonmaterial realms. The outcomes of the article enhance the understanding of management of CPRs, adding an alternate perspective concerning beliefs and values associated with such resources.

Resolving Water Conflicts in Mining Areas of Ghana Through Public Participation A Communication Perspective

Mining as a sector is vital to a countrys economic growth but the impact of the activities on environment can be an important cause of concern. In Wassa West district of Ghana, mining as an industry has been promoted in the recent past, but with significant impact on environmental aspects, especially water, leading to conflicts between the local communities and the mining companies. The practical theory of ‘Trinity of Voice’ (TOV) has been proposed for understanding the community-related intricacies underlying multi-stakeholder decision-making processes and proposing a futuristic course of action for effective public participation in the same. This article attempts to understand the causes underlying the mining-related water conflicts in Ghana using the TOV theory. Using this theory, the article proposes a practical framework for enhanced effective participation of members from local host communities that in turn can enable resolving the existing conflicts and preventing the same in future.

Gender and Water from a Human Rights Perspective: The Role of Context in Translating International Norms into Local Action

Abstract An important area in the discourse on gender and water is water supply where women are seen as the key actors and beneficiaries. A human rights approach to development has been adopted with access to safe water explicitly recognized as a basic human right. This right places a legal obligation upon governments to translate the international norms into practice. But does explicitly acknowledging the human right to water make a practical difference in women’s lives? Using an actor-oriented perspective, this paper analyzes how the international legal norms for realization of the right get reconstructed in local communities where women are the right holders. The empirical data for the analysis will be drawn from a first-hand qualitative study in rural India. The findings of the study show how the socio-cultural matrix provides the environment for implementing the right and determines its equitable and effective exercise by women.

Women society and water technologies: lessons for bureaucracy.

Abstract Water technologies are increasingly regarded as pivotal to the process of societal development. One arena of importance is the delivery of water to society through comprehensive water supply programs that aim at ensuring ‘safe’ water for all. The principal target group in these programs is women, whose development is believed to be promoted through improved water facilities offering them greater convenience, better health and enhanced socio-economic opportunities. These programs can be seen as having three essential aspects, namely technology, people and institutions. Of these, the responsibilities of designing technologies for supplying water, creating institutional frameworks for their execution and implementing the program at the people’s end for their benefit all lie with development bureaucracies. But the extent to which these bureaucracies can be sensitive to the socio-cultural contexts of the communities and the women for whom the program interventions are designed and implemented remains problematic. This article explores the gender dimensions of the socio-cultural context of water and how this may play a role in the adoption and management of improved water technologies. A perspective on the lessons for planning bureaucracies is offered to make the concerned technologies more efficient, effective and sustainable.

Arsenic in Drinking Water: An Emerging Human Right Challenge in India

Arsenic is a dangerous contaminant that occurs naturally in the groundwater in many parts of the world, including India. The presence of this contaminant threatens enjoyment of the human right to water, negatively impacting upon people’s health, economy and social wellbeing. This in turn thwarts people’s enjoyment of the rights to health, education and development. This chapter presents the scenario of the impact of arsenic in groundwater in the Indian state of Bihar, elaborating on the health implications through detailed case studies. It further critically evaluates the measures adopted for arsenic mitigation in the state, finally suggesting that the need is to find sustainable solutions for securing safe drinking water for the people. This alone can enable enjoyment of the human right to water and other related rights in arsenic-affected areas in India and elsewhere in the world.

Climate change, water and gender: Impact and adaptation in North-Eastern Hills of India

Water resources in India are projected to face severe climate-induced stress. In the North-Eastern Hill region, where lifestyles are closely connected to nature, this holds great implications for human development. While scientific knowledge regarding climate change and water is growing at global and regional scales, an equally diverse body of knowledge on the human dimensions of the same at local levels is weak. This article attempts to bridge this knowledge gap by presenting micro-level evidence on the gendered impact of increasing water stress and the innovative gendered local adaptive strategies in this region. It urges for the need to re-think on adaptation planning, basing it on local templates for greater sustainability.

Human Right to Water in Transboundary Water Regimes

Transboundary watercourses present a context which can have an impact upon the human right to water of over 40 % of the world’s population. Transboundary water resources are increasingly coming under stress in terms of both quantity and quality, due to increasing populations and unsustainable and inequitable uses. Climate change is expected to further add to the pressures on transboundary waters. Since the human right to water is based on the consumptive use of water, in a competitive transboundary water regime, fulfilment of the right can thus meet much challenge. This chapter attempts to explore the nuances underlying this increasingly important context, through a focus on transboundary watercourses in three different regions, namely, the Juba-Shabelle in the Horn of Africa, Jordan River basin in the Middle East and Ganges River basin in South Asia. It attempts to recommend solutions on how the human right to water can be facilitated in transboundary water regimes.

Translating the Human Right to Water into Reality: Concluding Remarks

This chapter attempts to integrate the analytical threads presented in the various chapters of the book. The different contexts presented in the book are first analyzed under a number of overarching themes. These context-based themes are the following: water resources, policy environment, legal landscape, program and project interventions, and institutional setting. On the basis of the analysis, a conceptual framework is developed to help understand the process of realization of human right to water. According to this framework, the process of implementation of the right is seen as linked to the context in which it unfolds, the latter being further differentiated into “objective” and “subjective” contexts. Finally, a way forward for translating the human right to water from concept to reality is defined, aiming toward transforming the status of all right holders from “non-realizers” to “full realizers” of the human right to water.

Climate Change and Human Right to Water: Problems and Prospects

The impact of climate change on water is imminent which in turn holds serious implications for enjoyment of the human right to water. Both quantity and quality of water are foreseen to get affected through impacts on water. This chapter aims to explore, first, the challenges posed by climate change impacts on water to the exercise of human right to water and, second, the prospects for effectively addressing these challenges so that the right can be universally realized. Among the prospects, on the basis of empirical evidence from India, it argues that local communities possess traditional knowledge and practices which enable resilience to climatic impacts on water. The chapter contends that this body of knowledge and practices regarding water can serve as an effective blueprint for adaptation to climate change.