Water, Gender and Power

In my last post, I discussed a brief history of development practices, including the emergence of post-colonial development. Today I will talk about different bottom-up and top-down approaches in relation to gender inclusion and equality in water resources in Africa.  Top-Down Approaches Top-down approaches, as seen in my last post, are those where governments, development institutions or NGOs attempt to create policies and programmes that will help provide water resources to communities. However, the main issue here is that they sometimes miss the point. By not talking to the people in the community there is a lack of understanding about who needs the resources what they need them for. Specifically, when it comes to marginalised groups.  Having said this, if governments or development institutions are committed to hel ping those marginalised groups they have the power to do so. For example, governments can change the law in regards to marital property rights, inheritance, land ownersh