Improving Service Delivery by Strengthening the Role of Female Water Professionals in Decision Making

Human Resource Capacity Assessments performed by IWA in the water and sanitation sector of 15 countries revealed gaps in the availability and quality of the workforce and in particular poor levels of participation by women. The water sector lacks skilled workers yet female labour is underused; a potential gap that can be filled. The project aims to promote gender equality in water service providers, demonstrating current progress towards this, and setting out an action plan for greater equality in water service providers in 9 sub-Saharan African countries (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia) by raising awareness among the utility companies and the national governments of the need for women professionals in the sector and by providing guidance to them to break down institutional barriers to women’s education and employment in the sector.