Brazil launches Year of Gender and Water

The launch of the "Year of Gender and Water"of Brazil, took place on the 27th of March 2008, during the Extraordinary Session of the National Water Resources Council (CNRH), which had as its president the National Water Resources and Urban Environment Secretary, Luciano Zicca. The Council had full support from: the Cities Ministry; the Women's Right Especial Secretary and the Brazilian Association of Sanitary Engineering, which represented the teaching and research entities segment and the it is a central point for the WASH World Programme (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene). The Council also had the support from the National Water Agency and from the Water Resources and Urban Environment Secretary (SRHU). The support was formally expressed in the session plenary of the CNRH in December 2007.

The process to declare 2008 as the "Year of Gender and Water" started at the beginning of the year, and is decalred in the context of the Brazilian Decade for Water. The initiative follows the programme established by the National Water Resources Plan regarding its implementation strategy. The launch of the "Year of Gender and Water" marks the beginning of the implementation process of the Macro National Water Resources Plan regarding the incorporation of a gender perspective within Integrated Water Resources Management.

Activities that will be part of the process of incorporating gender within water resources integrated management, in Brazil and within its national water policies will be presented very shortly. The initiative has voluntary adhesion as its starting point, and targets especially the actors that are part of the National Water Resources Management System (SINGREH).

It is expected that, all throughout the country, from the hydrografic committees and the state's water resources councils, the project will be be integrated. It is expected that experiences about gender issues will be articulated, showing that human participation - women and men - within water management can make and are making great difference.