On the 9th of June 2015, was the opening ceremony of High-Level International Conference on Implementation of International Decade for Action “Water for Life” in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

“Women Water Forum” pre-conference was organized. Co-organisers were: Women for Water Partnership (WfWP), EBRD, Oxfam, UN Women, Global Water Forum (GWF). AWHHE as a member of WfWP had an active role in the pre-conference and presented case on the Implementation of the UNECE/WHO Protocol in Armenia”.

Women for Water Partnership (WfWP)  commits to the establishment of a dedicated Women and Water Fund, as it was proposed during the Dushanbe’s High Level International Conference on the implementation of the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005-1015 two years ago. The Fund would serve as a flexible co-financing modality to mobilize resources to improve women’s roles in and contributions to water management, diplomacy and knowledge transfer. WfWP called on the commitment of this High-level Conference for the establishment of this dedicated Women for Water Fund as called for during the High- level Conference on Water Cooperation in Dushanbe, 2013.

As WfWP stands for raising the profile of women’s involvement on an equitable basis in

the water sector, WfWP proposes an UN International Water and Women Year (2017) and UN Water and Women Day (2017) – 25 years after the adoption of the Dublin Principle 3; WfWP encouraged the participating states to commit to these initiatives and to report at the next international water related fora on the actual progress achieved.

Two publications were launched and presented by Women for Water Partnership in cooperation with UN Women and UN-DPAC and UNU INWEH. “Inclusion of women increases effectiveness and efficiency” is one of the conclusions of the

publication: Women as Agents of Change in Water: reflections on experiences

from the field. The publication gives examples of how to include women in water initiatives, the challenges faced and lessons learnt. The cases show the importance and benefits that involving women has in the design and planning stages of water initiatives, from reducing inefficient use of funds and increasing transparency, to finding appropriate, affordable solutions and achieving better operation and maintenance. The second publication is the result of a study by UNU INWEH in collaboration with WfWP. “Women, Wash and the Water for Life Decade: an emerging framework for success post-2015”. The publication gives insight in what works in practice and what not. It also shows clearly what the benefits of a supporting network like Women for

Water Partnership are at different levels. 

AWHHE contributed in development of the publication “Women as Agents of Change in Water: reflections on experiences from the field” is available at the AWHHE website

http://old.awhhe.am/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/WomenForWater.pdf

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