Women, water and equity: an agenda that makes sense?

Abstract

The gender issue in the 2030 Agenda has spaces in several targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 6, which focuses on water management, drinking water, and sanitation. The United Nations (UN) highlights the differentiated role of women and girls in the provision and management of water, particularly in situations of water insecurity due to water shortages or inefficient sanitation services. In this sense, the objective of this article is to highlight convergences, gaps, and opportunities to promote the water and women agenda in Brazil, based on the articulation of national and local public policies. The topic brings progress linked to the broader context of women's achievements for equal spaces, access conditions, power, and opportunities in the country, where this agenda is still under construction. The organizational and participation gaps, and the discontinuity of budgets hinder the implementation of policies, requiring a strategy to incorporate the gender perspective on the waters management considering: i) the internalization of this agenda in the official structure of water management and governance; ii) the opening of participatory spaces at different levels and decision-making instances (community, hydrographic basin, governments, companies and others); iii) the incorporation of the theme in public and private institutions and forums; iv) the effective articulation of SDGs 2, 5 and 6 with national laws for greater inclusion of women in water management and governance. Keywords: gender and water; SDGs and policies; sustainability; participation.