complimentary article reprint thirsty for change article reprint thirsty for change the untapped...

Issue 20 | 2017

Complimentary article reprint

Thirsty for changeThe untapped potential of women in urban water management

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By Kate Thompson, Kathleen O’Dell, Sameera Syed, and Hannah Kemp Illustration by Eva Vázquez

154

Thirsty for changeThe untapped potential of women

in urban water management

By Kate Thompson, Kathleen O’Dell, Sameera Syed, and Hannah Kemp Illustration by Eva Vázquez

www.deloittereview.com

Thirsty for change 155



156 Thirsty for change

The urban water challenge

The global community has unequivocally acknowledged that the continued decline in water secu-

rity—the availability of safe, reliable water as both a commodity and a natural resource—presents

an immense risk to poverty reduction and sustainable development in the coming decades. Without

measurable efficiency or technology gains, by 2030, the world’s demand for water will exceed the

available supply by 40 percent,1 and an estimated 2.8 billion people will be living in countries or

regions with absolute water scarcity.2

ALTHOUGH water availability is of-

ten thought of in a rural context, as

urbanization continues to raise the

population of the world’s cities—from today’s

3.5 billion to an estimated 5 billion by 20303—

stresses on the urban water supply will become

increasingly acute. Rising demand in highly

concentrated areas will result in less available

water per urban household, with profound im-

plications for the health and productivity of all

urban dwellers and, particularly, for the urban

poor and marginalized communities.

Water scarcity will hit hardest in urban centers

in developing countries that are already strug-

gling to cope with rapid urbanization, eco-

nomic constraints, fragile institutions, and an

insufficient water infrastructure. For the vast

majority of households in these areas, women

and girls are the primary providers, managers,

and users of water. The more time women and

girls spend accessing clean water for their fam-

ilies or caring for relatives inflicted with wa-

ter-related illnesses, the less time they spend


157Thirsty for change

learning in school or working in the productive

economy.

Preparing cities to address water security be-

fore the full weight of these disruptions is upon

them requires an accelerated, expansive, stra-

tegic effort aimed at strengthening the efficacy

of urban water resource management. It will

also require the collective action of municipal

governments, the private sector, nongovern-

mental organizations, and civil society—be-

cause improving water resource management

is not something that city governments can

achieve on their own. Water services that are

run by local governments, particularly in de-

veloping countries, are often beleaguered by

deteriorating infrastructure, weak manage-

ment, high levels of non-revenue water losses,4

low levels of transparency, and poor commu-

nication with stakeholders—especially women.

For more than two decades, the role of women

within the water sector has been examined in

studies that have found that more substantial

improvements in the governance, transpar-

ency, and sustainability of water supplies are

achieved when men and women are involved in

equal measure than when women are involved

only marginally or not at all.5 A World Bank

evaluation of 122 projects found that water

projects that included women were six to seven

times more effective than those that did not.6

Yet women make up less than 17 percent of

the water, sanitation, and hygiene labor force

and a fraction of the policymakers, regulators,

management, and technical experts.7

For international development agencies work-

ing to strengthen the water sector and/or ad-

dress urbanization, this article examines some

practical pathways to help increase the number

of women working in the urban water sector as

formal participants through three specific en-

try points:

1. Design, operation, and maintenance of

water systems

2. Water distribution, both networked and

non-networked

3. Policymaking and regulation

While there is a considerable body of research

and evidence on the impact of greater inclu-

siveness in managing rural water supply, there

is less documentation of the impact of women’s

inclusion in urban settings. We have drawn on

rural examples in some cases here for lessons

that could have applicability to inclusiveness in

an urban context as well.

ENTRY POINTS FOR WOMEN

Design, operation, and maintenance of water systems

IN India, where women have been trained

and licensed as hand pump mechanics, cus-

tomers rate female mechanics as more ac-

cessible and responsive than male mechanics.8

As a result, in areas served by female mechan-

ics, there is more preventative maintenance

and fewer breakdowns. Many of these women



understand that a broken hand pump results

in girls and women having to travel greater dis-

tances to collect water, losing productive time

and increasing risks to their personal safety. In

Malawi, water committees composed mainly

of women monitor the condition of the wa-

ter pipes that lie along the footpaths they use

several times a day, reporting water leakages

and the need for repairs.9

Women in the Magelang

district of Java, Indonesia,

helped their community

rethink long-held beliefs

that women lack technical

skills when they offered

technical solutions to de-

sign problems in the ex-

isting water system. Their

solutions became the ba-

sis for a complete modifi-

cation to the water system,

and women are now active

participants in the man-

agement of the community’s water systems.10

Many women water users have invaluable in-

sights about the design, operation, and main-

tenance of water systems, which reflect their

needs and preferences as the sector’s primary

customers. Applying a user-centered design

approach to water supply systems that incor-

porates end users’ wants, concerns, and cultur-

al contexts offers a number of advantages for

consumers, communities, and governments.

User-centered designs that make water sys-

tems more useful and responsive to consumers’

needs and preferences improve accessibility

and customer satisfaction—when satisfaction

increases, so too does willingness to pay.11 For

utilities, the benefits can include lower levels

of non-revenue water losses, improved cash

flow, and more resources for investment in in-

frastructure and increasing service quality. It

can also mean fewer gov-

ernment subsidies, which

frees up public funds for

other essential services.

Key to driving user-cen-

tered design improve-

ments and reforms across

the urban water sector in

developing countries is to

create conditions that can

attract, retain, and pro-

mote women into roles—

as engineers, technicians,

mechanics, operators, sys-

tem architects, and utility

managers—in which they can shape the design,

construction, and rehabilitation of new and ex-

isting water supply systems.

Effective user-centered design that yields bet-

ter market intelligence should be informed

by a solid understanding of cultural sensitivi-

ties and an insider’s perspective—both inputs

that women as primary users, providers, and

managers of water can readily supply. Recruit-

ing women to execute market-facing research

should include greater involvement in formal

Many women water users have invaluable insights about the de-sign, operation, and maintenance of water systems, which reflect their needs and prefer-ences as the sector’s primary customers.



education for women and girls, especially in

science, technology, engineering, and math

(STEM) programs. Methods of encouraging

girls to begin and finish STEM education pro-

grams include: targeted scholarship programs

that begin in secondary school and help prom-

ising STEM students complete secondary and

tertiary school programs; performance-based

conditional cash transfer programs that incen-

tivize girls to enter and graduate from STEM

programs; international exchange programs;

and innovations such as prize competitions.

Curricula reform and teacher training for voca-

tional, college, and university programs that fo-

cus on the design, operation, and maintenance

of water infrastructure need to be coupled

with incentives that attract greater numbers of

women to enroll in and teach these programs.

Utilities, local and national governments, and

other water providers that vigorously recruit

the women graduates and alumni from these

programs will encourage even greater enroll-

ment and graduation. Water-focused prize

competitions and innovative challenges such

as the one sponsored by World Skills in 201412—

but targeting urban women in the water

sector—can foster promising new ways of de-

signing, maintaining, and delivering water

while protecting and conserving the water

supply.

While STEM education programs can have

a long-term effect in preparing women and

girls to fill essential roles in the design, main-

tenance, and operation of water systems,

utilities companies can immediately begin

applying the foundations of user-centered

design—desirability, feasibility, and viability—

by incorporating women’s feedback into water

management structures and practices. Focus

groups for women can be used to solicit practi-

cal ideas and opinions on the usefulness, effec-

tiveness, and adoptability of water infrastruc-

ture and management processes.

Studies by a number of international donor or-

ganizations validate that there is an increasing

number of women on water boards, water as-

sociations, and other community-based water

organizations in some countries.13 But these

women are not yet widely heard or influential.

Training programs can help build the networks

and capacities of women involved in civil so-

ciety organizations and help increase their vis-

ibility and influence in consultative processes.

Finally, women play an important role in de-

sign and maintenance that helps promote

water stewardship and the use of water in so-

cially inclusive, environmentally sustainable,

and economically beneficial ways. UN Water

estimates that merely involving women can

increase the effectiveness of water projects six-

or seven-fold.14 For example, in Baluchistan,

Pakistan, researchers—who were initially

deterred from consulting with women for a

year—were eventually able to collaborate with

an all-female team that proposed repurposing



a new water tank on unused land to provide

water for nonfunctioning public standpipes.

This plan was not only more cost-effective

than the original plan developed by an all-male

group—it led to better water management and

quality-of-life improvements as a result of hy-

giene education. Four years later, the village

built a new school for girls, investing in female

empowerment and enveloping more women

into the fold of policymaking.15

Water distribution

In emerging markets, urban water is distrib-

uted by either networked utility systems or

non-networked provision via kiosks or tankers.

While networked water systems operated by

utilities are the primary delivery mechanism

in urban settings, these utilities grapple with

exceptionally high levels of nonrevenue water

losses.16 These losses are often a result of inef-

ficient administration and collection systems,

customer unwillingness to pay, commercial

theft, and physical losses stemming from de-

teriorating infrastructure and poor mainte-

nance. Two important consequences of high

nonrevenue water losses are less funding for

investment in infrastructure improvements

and network expansion. This, in turn, reduces

the reach of piped networks and leaves large

swaths of urban and peri-urban centers uncon-

nected, including areas containing informal

settlements and urban slums.

A 2014 report by the International Water As-

sociation found a critical shortage of skills in

the water sector in 15 developing countries,

particularly in the management, accounting,

finance, and engineering professions.17 The re-

port raised practical questions about how these

and other developing countries with similar

skill shortages will be able to meet the Sus-

tainable Development Goals for water without

a greater investment in the skills the sector

needs. Women have the potential to fill these

human resource gaps—as managers, finance

professionals, collection specialists, water en-

gineers, and marketers of a product they know

well to a customer base they understand better

than their male counterparts.

Increasing the number of women in the talent

pipeline can address the human resource short-

ages and, at the same time, make room for new

perspectives and ideas for solving some of the

industry’s most intractable problems, such as

reducing nonrevenue water losses. In the pre-

vious section, we noted that increasing the sup-

ply of skilled women through STEM education

and vocational training programs is essential.

So too is the introduction of formal institution-

al policies and practices that are purposefully

designed to create a conducive environment

for the recruitment, retention, and advance-

ment of qualified women. Mandatory train-

ing on the attributes and expectations of a

gender-friendly work environment for utility

management and staff can shift mind-sets and

organizational culture over time, particularly

when policies and expectations are enforced

and tied to performance management and



reward systems for all employees.18 Peer net-

works and communities of practice designed

specifically for female water practitioners can

help ease feelings of isolation and stigma that

are often experienced by pioneering women

who are the first to enter male-dominated in-

dustries.

Households that lack a network connection

typically access water via a non-networked wa-

ter distribution mechanism such as water ki-

osks and tankers. The resale of water through

non-networked water distribution outlets is big

business, most of which is owned and operated

by men. Greater participation by women as

entrepreneurs in this sub-sector goes beyond

the obvious benefits of employment, economic

empowerment, and equal access to resources

and productive inputs. It puts women buyers

in direct and continuous contact with women

sellers who have information and learnings to

share as a result of their unique role as manag-

ers of household water. This knowledge often

includes safe water storage and usage practices,

water conservation, and effective treatments

for water-related diseases.

But women’s access to the means to enter the

market—start-up capital, basic business man-

agement skills, and market information—re-

mains limited in many developing markets

and hinders their participation as owners, op-

erators, and entrepreneurs. Local governments

can accelerate the rate of inclusion by making

the formal business environment more trans-

parent, predictable, and accessible to women

water entrepreneurs. Utilities too, can acceler-

ate inclusion by partnering with communities

to target, train, finance, and license women en-

trepreneurs as water resellers in their commu-

nities, eliminating layers of intermediary costs

in the process.

Within distribution, women can influence the

adoption of water stewardship. Their unique

role in and their understanding of household

water management gives them insights to prag-

matically shape conservation efforts through

awareness-building around family habits and

behaviors, managing water consumption, and

auditing household water budgets. As a pri-

mary influencer of young children, women can

instill the values of a water-saving culture from

Increasing the number of women in the talent pipeline can address the human resource shortages and, at the same time, make room for new perspectives and ideas for solving some of the industry’s most intractable problems, such as reducing non-revenue water losses.



an early age and establish the tenets of consci-

entious water use while actively building social

support and expectations for a future genera-

tion of water managers. Through roles in dis-

tribution, women can organize and participate

in networking opportunities and community

events that cater to women and girls to encour-

age them to build and fortify coalitions, pro-

viding them with the space and time to share

tips and practices to improve water efficiency.

These opportunities spotlight the accomplish-

ments of female leaders and can galvanize oth-

ers to consider community engagement as well.

Bolstering women’s involvement in water con-

servation needs to build on and leverage their

uniquely influential relationship with water

within their communities.

Policymaking and regulation

Many countries have national policies that

mandate equal gender representation in the

governance of the water sector and gender eq-

uity in the access and control of water resourc-

es. However, their efficacy depends heavily on

where governments place the implementation

of these policies within the structure of the

government and the degree to which they fund

them and measure their impact on women,

families, and communities.

Countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, South

Africa, and Peru have adopted ambitious na-

tional policies aimed at increasing the number

of women working in the sector, increasing

women’s participation, and changing the way

water resources are managed. As important-



ly, these countries have adopted both formal

and informal methods for ensuring that these

policies do more than just sit on the shelf, with

designated gender focal points tucked into

HR departments with no budget or buy-in.19

Kenya’s national gender policy, of which wa-

ter policy is a subset, has been cascaded to

all public sector institutions at every level of

government with a requirement to report on

compliance and impact to the country’s Na-

tional Gender Commission on a quarterly ba-

sis. Uganda’s minister of state

for water, Maria Mutagamba,

was instrumental in leading

the formation and implemen-

tation of her country’s fully

funded five-year water sector

gender strategies.20 These ex-

amples highlight how critical it

is for inclusive policies to come

from the top of organizations

to ensure policies are effective-

ly translated into implemented

actions.

Greater representation of women in policy and

regulatory roles helps generate greater aware-

ness of the concerns and experiences of women

constituents among decision makers, which

could influence how the sector is governed and

by whom and how water resources are accessed

and controlled. For example, research from

India found that the number of drinking wa-

ter projects in areas with female-led councils

was 62 percent higher than those with male-

led councils.21 In terms of shaping water sector

policy and regulations, increased representa-

tion can mean more female legislators, civil

servants, and appointees in water ministries,

and/or equal numbers of men and women on

water boards, water associations, and agencies

that are active in the urban water sector.

The creation of women’s water caucuses within

national and subnational legislatures can serve

as focal points for advocating, legislating, and

funding policies that promul-

gate inclusive water policies in

all aspects of water resource

planning, development, and

management. In countries

where the legislature confirms

appointments to regulatory

bodies, a water caucus within

the legislature could also be

influential in increasing the

number of female water regu-

lators. Legislators and minis-

ters can push for reforms in the recruitment,

promotion, and performance management

practices within water-related ministries and

agencies to enable more women to enter and

be promoted into roles of increasing responsi-

bility and influence. At the same time, ensuring

there are well-funded programs in place to de-

velop women practitioners using mentorship,

peer networks, technical training scholarships,

knowledge management, and leadership train-

As efficacious as water caucuses are, building more egalitarian representation in legislatures takes time and effort.



ing can help both men and women overcome

traditional barriers and begin to create new

norms for the role of women in the water sec-

tor.

As efficacious as water caucuses are, building

more egalitarian representation in legislatures

takes time and effort. Barriers include social

stigmas about female leadership and partisan

political groups unwilling to include women

among their ranks. Eroding these views will

take time, but measures can accelerate the pro-

cess of change: encouraging women to exercise

their right to vote, advocating for minimum

quotas for women’s participation in elected

bodies and political appointments, appealing

to political parties to actively recruit women

leaders, and promoting more rigorous sex-dis-

aggregated data to better understand factors

inhibiting formal participation.

Within economic domains such as urban plan-

ning, women can impact water stewardship by

providing policymakers with valuable services

in identifying both occupational and environ-

mental hazards to minimize the risks of water

scarcity. Women can be trained in data collec-

tion and the methods and technology for gaug-

ing the security of the existing water supply

and for identifying new sources. To be sustain-

able, water conservation programs need ap-

propriately structured tariffs to help promote

judicious water use and adjustments in person-

al water consumption, as well as methods for

monitoring run-off, contamination, and equip-

ment maintenance.

LOOKING BEYOND TODAY

WATER security—wherein everyone

has access to a reliable, afford-

able, and safe supply of water, re-

gardless of their means—is one of the greatest

human challenges of the 21st century. It is

inextricably intertwined with the most funda-

mental aspects of human development and the

social and economic well-being of communi-

ties throughout the world.

The cities with some of the planet’s fastest pop-

ulation growth—Karachi, Luanda, Kinshasa,

Dhaka, Lagos—are also those least equipped

to address the challenges of water security and

where women’s participation in water resource

management is among the lowest in the world.

They are also the cities and regions that have

the potential to realize the greatest gains by

proactively integrating women across their wa-

ter resource management systems.

As the world’s water demand steadily rises, leveraging the untapped potential of women might make a difference in the world’s collective water security.



By contrast, cities in India and China, also

among the world’s fastest-growing, are making

concerted efforts to include women in water

resource management with notable results and

lessons to impart. For these communities, in-

vesting in women is not only prudential—it is

good policy that can yield high returns in the

form of better-managed resources, increased

labor participation and productivity, and abat-

ed water shortages.

Although few scholars have studied the linkage

of women’s engagement with urban water sec-

tor performance, it is worth examining further.

International development agencies working

with governments, nongovernmental organi-

zations, and the private sector should pioneer

pilot programs and collect data to test whether,

in fact, inclusive policies and practices engen-

der improvements in the management and gov-

ernance of water resources that can ultimately

result in greater water security—through more

efficient water usage, improved reliability, less

waste, more and better infrastructure, greater

water conservation, equitable access, and safe

water. As the world’s water demand steadily

rises, leveraging the untapped potential of

women might make a difference in the world’s

collective water security. DR

Kate Thompson is a principal in Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Strategy & Operations service area, providing strategy services and technical assistance to international clients in the government, private, and social sectors.

Kathleen O’Dell is a principal in Deloitte’s Consulting LLP’s Strategy & Operations service area, focusing on energy and sustainability.

Sameera Syed is a senior consultant in Deloitte Advisory’s Emerging Markets practice, provid-ing technical assistance to federal and multilateral clients on urban development projects in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hannah Kemp is a senior consultant in Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy and Operations service area, working primarily with donor, social sector, and federal government clients.

The authors would like thank Gloria Mamba and Nkosi Ntsele from Deloitte Africa, as well as Marielle Larson and Michelle Cho from Deloitte Consulting LLP, for their invaluable contributions to this piece.



Endnotes

1. World Bank, “Water overview,” www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water/overview, accessed October 21, 2016.

2. World Bank, “Water and climate change,” http://water.worldbank.org/topics/water-resources-management/water-and-climate-change, accessed October 21, 2016.

3. World Bank, “Urban development,” www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelop-ment, accessed October 21, 2016.

4. Water unaccounted for in real terms, usually in the form of leaky pipes, customers’ failure to pay, or under-collection by utilities and service providers due to unrecorded customers and connections or measuring inaccuracies.

5. Deepa Narayan, Contribution of People’s Participation: Evidence from 121 Rural Water Supply Projects (World Bank, 1995).

6. Ibid.

7. International Water Association, An avoidable crisis: WASH human resource capacity gaps in 15 developing economies, 2014, www.iwa-network.org/downloads/1422745887-an-avoidable-crisis-wash-gaps.pdf, retrieved January 26, 2016.

8. Sugata Roy, Women hand pump mechanics on the move, UNICEF, 2009, http://unicef.in/Story/145/Women-hand-pump-mechanics-on-the-move.

9. Colleen Lowe Morna, Mainstreaming gender in water and sanitation: Literature review for the SA department of water and sanitation, 2001.

10. Raphael Tenthani, “Sisters are tapping it for them-selves,” New Internationalist 352, December 2002.

11. William F. Vásquez, Pallab Mozumder, Jesús Hernández-Arce, and Robert P. Berrens, “Willing-ness to pay for safe drinking water: Evidence from Parral, Mexico,” Journal of Environmental Management vol. 90, issue 11, 2009.

12. The Inaugural Water Innovation Challenge was hosted in June 2014 at the Institute of Techni-cal Education, Singapore, bringing together

multi-skilled teams from the United States and Australia to design and innovate plumbing and sanitation solutions for communities in Nepal and Bangladesh, www.worldskills.org/what/international-cooperation/innovation-challenges/.

13. Women for Water Partnership, Women as agents of change in water: Reflections on experiences from the field, 2015, http://waterforlifeconf2015.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/WomenForWater-binnenwerk.27meiA.pdf; UNDP, Mainstreaming gender in water management: Version 2.1, 2006, www.undp.org/content/dam/aplaws/publication/en/publications/environment-energy/www-ee-library/water-governance/resource-guide-mainstreaming-gender-in-water-management/IWRMGenderResourceGuide-English-200610.pdf.; Brue Gross, Christina van Wijk, and Nilanjana Mukherjee, Linking sustainability with demand, gender and poverty, World Bank, Water and Sanitation Program, 2001, www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/global_plareport.pdf.

14. UN Water, Water and Gender, 2013, www.unwater.org/fileadmin/user_upload/unwa-ter_new/docs/water_and_gender.pdf.

15. UN Water, Gender, water, sanitation: A policy brief, 2006, www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/pdf/un_water_policy_brief_2_gender.pdf.

16. Between 30 and 70 percent.

17. International Water Association, An avoidable crisis.

18. Brazil’s Itaipu Binacional, a global leader in renewable energy, was granted the federal government’s Pro-Gender Equality Seal in 2015 for the fifth time and honored by the United Nations in recognition of its application of the Seven Women’s Empowerment Principles. It has doubled the number of women in management positions from 10 percent to 21 percent in a decade by promoting inclusive cultural initiatives, training workshops for women community leaders, and active participation in the Ministry of Mines and Energy Permanent Gender Committee, www.itaipu.gov.br/en/social-responsability/gender-equality.



19. For example, in Tanzania, the National Strategy for Gender Development 2005 is a comprehensive strat-egy that institutionalizes gender focal points in gov-ernment ministries, yet interviews with the Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) reveal perfunctory compliance. While MEM theoretically put in place a gender focal point, in actuality there is no training, empowerment, job description, or meaningful ac-tivities. In a February 2015 interview, the director of administration and human resources management admitted that perhaps MEM should have some train-ing on what gender is and why it is important, since even he himself was not clear on what it means or why it is relevant. “Frankly speaking, gender issues have not been tackled as they should be,” he said.

20. Government of Uganda, Ministry of Water and Environment, Water and sanitation sub-sector: Gender strategy (2010–15), http://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/uga152829.pdf.

21. UN Women, In brief: Women’s leadership and political participation, www.unwomen.org/~/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2013/12/un%20womenlgthembriefus-webrev2%20pdf.ashx, retrieved September 26, 2016.

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