Indonesian women bolster lessons in climate resilience

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A group of woman sit inside around a table with paper and pictures as they map how climate change hazards affect their community and women in particular.

The women pictured here are working together on a systems mapping activity to assess how climate change hazards may affect gender equality and social inclusion in water and sanitation services in Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia.

 

This Water for Women study, run by the University of Technology, Sydney - Institute for Sustainable Futures in collaboration with Plan International Australia and Yayasan Plan International Indonesia, revealed that water shortages due to longer dry seasons had led to problems with flush toilets, forcing community members to return to open defecation and placing vital water and food sources at risk of faecal contamination. 

 

Women’s knowledge about natural systems and resources, and their influence on community decision-making, is critical for adapting to climate change. It is only through gender and social inclusion that we can ensure WASH services and systems are accessible and effective for everyone, more climate-resilient and sustainable. This is central to achieving the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

 

What happens on the surface matters underground. This study looks at the effects of physical climate change on WASH infrastructure and technologies and how social structures and gendered power relationships regulate how people experience those effects. It is contributing to global debates on measuring and addressing challenges, including climate change, gender equality, and women’s empowerment in the WASH sector.

 

Throughout our region, climate change is leading to water stress and insecurity and threatening the sustainability of WASH services and systems. Across Asia and the Pacific, Water for Women is making the invisible visible by fostering gender equality and social inclusion in WASH delivery and supporting the WASH sector to build knowledge about how to address the multiple, intersecting impacts of climate change on WASH services and systems.

 

 Photo: Tamara Megaw, University of Technology, Sydney - Institute for Sustainable Futures

This World Water Day, we are highlighting the importance of groundwater and the role of inclusive and safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in protecting it.

 

Safely managed and inclusive water and sanitation services and systems are integral to protecting groundwater from contamination, and also ensuring that access to these precious water sources is equitable and sustainable.

 

Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere, supporting drinking water supplies, sanitation systems, farming, industry and ecosystems.

 

What we do on the surface matters underground - in many places, human activities over-use and contaminate groundwater. Safely managed WASH plays an important role in protecting groundwater. Simultaneously, climate change is placing increasing demands and pressures on our freshwater resources.

 

And when it comes to making the invisible visible in communities, it is only through gender and social inclusion that we can ensure WASH services and systems are accessible and effective for everyone, more climate-resilient and sustainable. This is central to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. 

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