Measuring How Water‐Related Policies of the Global South Consider Gender
Insights From Trialling a New Policy Gender Index in Nepal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7986402 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susan Cuddy (0000-0003-3905-9491, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, corresponding author), Sanju Koirala (0000-0001-8844-4586, Nepal Development Research Institute), Shahriar Wahid (0000-0003-1117-4148, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Dave Penton (0000-0002-4444-9761, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2050-2680 • E-ISSN: 2050-2680 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/app5.70029 |
| OpenAlex | W4411483844 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 48 |
This paper supports policymakers to consider how well their water‐related policies respond to gender roles, norms and relations. By braiding the latest philosophies on gender mainstreaming with Integrated Water Resources Management and Feminist Policy Analysis principles, we describe a Multi‐Dimensional Index of Gender in Water Policy (MDI‐GWP) to measure how gender is captured in water‐related policy. The index enables the motivated policy actor to produce well‐crafted and feasible recommendations to reform policies. When we trialled MDI‐GWP on 16 of Nepalʼs federal water‐related policies and acts, the multi‐dimensional index tracked gender policy developments over the past 30 years, identified areas where policymakers could further consider gender, and revealed differences in gender application between sectors. We included water resources management (WRM), agriculture, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sectors. In Nepalʼs case, agriculture and WASH policies are on an improving trajectory for gender equity, while WRM policy has rebounded to the gender blind. We expect that MDI‐GWP is simple enough to apply in other countries, yet meaningful enough to identify opportunities to improve gender in policies and achieve better outcomes
Agriculture · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Gender analysis · Gender equality · Gender equity · Gender mainstreaming · Geography · Index (typography · Political science · Public economics · Sanitation · Sociology · Water resources · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Engineering · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
Intersectionality
Integration of gender considerations into Tanzania's climate and water policies
International Development Buzzwords
Women, Policy and Politics
Representative and responsive bureaucracy in Nepal
Introduction
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Migration and Gender Dynamics of Irrigation Governance in Nepal
What is the ‘problem’ of gender inequality represented to be in the Swedish forest sector
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Is there life after gender mainstreaming
Can water professionals meet gender goals? A case study of the Department of Irrigation in Nepal
The feminization of agriculture or the feminization of agrarian distress? Tracking the trajectory of women in agriculture in India
Gender Violence as a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Risk
Rethinking gender mainstreaming in agricultural innovation policy in Nepal
Gendered participation in water management
Women's empowerment and the will to change
Power as agency
Expanding the discursive context of policy design
What's the problem with gender‐based analysis? Gender mainstreaming policy and practice in Canada
Re-politicizing the gender and climate change debate
Women and irrigation in Nepal
Safe access to safe water in low income countries
Flows of change
The Civic Origins of Progressive Policy Change
Revising McPhail's Feminist Policy Analysis Framework
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |