New Course on Gender and IWRM - Sign Up Now

A new online course on Gender and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) opens on 15 October. It is available on the Cap-Net virtual campus and has been developed in partnership with GWP and Gender and Water Alliance (GWA). The course aims to improve practitioners’ understanding of the benefits of integrating gender meaningfully in water resources management.

The new course provides an in-depth guide on how gender and water resources are intrinsically linked. It explores obstacles faced by vulnerable groups when dealing with water, demonstrates how the two are connected, and explains the benefits of addressing them in an integrated way. 

A training manual – Why Gender Matters in IWRM – developed by Cap-Net and GWA, contains comprehensive tools on how to achieve this, supported by a wealth of experience across the world through real-life case studies. Four modules provide examples of tools and practical ways forward, under the following topics: 

  1. Introduction to Gender and Integrated Water Resources Management.
  2. Gender, Water, and Climate Change.
  3. Gender, Water, and Meaningful Participation in Decision-making Processes.
  4. Gender-disaggregated Data and Monitoring IWRM. 

Various monitoring and gender-specific indicators are also discussed in the course, and at the end, participants will be able to design and implement integrated and inclusive interventions in the water sector which ensure strong recognition of marginalised groups. 

The course is self-paced, with a total duration of approximately 20 hours, and it is free of charge. 

Who should take the course? 

Participants representing stakeholder groups from the entire water sector globally are invited to take this course. This list contains examples of who they might be: 

  • Stakeholders and professionals forming part of water management, civil society, river basin, or international organisations; development programmes, members of UN organisations, and representatives of the private sector
  • Sustainable Development Goals focal points and facilitators within national governments
  • decision-makers, policymakers, and high-level professionals and managers active in governmental bodies
  • capacity developers active in the fields of integrated water resources management, climate action, gender mainstreaming, stakeholder engagement, monitoring and evaluation among others. 

Participants are expected to have previous knowledge of the basic concepts of IWRM, and a basic understanding of the impacts of climate change on water resources. But no previous knowledge of gender or its interactions with water is required. More details are available in the course overview.