Women leaders in water governance in the region – including community leaders, activists, and members of civil society – have expressed an interest in a safe, inclusive digital space to support collaborative work across cultures and languages. Because networking and discussion spaces (both on- and offline) are typically male-dominated, women face barriers to participating. Barriers include cultural practices that minimize women’s participation as well as male-led bullying. Barriers also prevent women from attending such spaces. These barriers include cultural biases leading to women having less time for and access to these tools. They are also less likely to have the skill to use digital tools.
Leaders in water governance in the region also deal with additional unique challenges. One challenge is that many women in river governance may not speak or read English or the dominant national language of the country in which they live. With the lingua franca of many platforms and tools being English, this limits their relevance and accessibility. Furthermore, activists have long been concerned about issues of privacy and security, and many existing digital spaces do not place digital security as a point of priority.
The needs of women must be kept in mind during the design of any tool that is meant to support them. This is notable in digital technology, which have opened opportunities for women to generate new networks and connections, but retain many of the issues identified above because such platforms have not typically been designed with the needs of women, inclusivity, or security in mind. Regardless, women are not included in the design process, given the above-named challenges. This results in a gap in the usefulness of digital and technologically-focused tools that are expected to support women.
As a form of knowledge co-production with elements of participatory action research, the production of this platform has the potential to empower women and help to build their technical and leadership capacity. The co-design work is based on assumptions on the part of the principal partnership: Open Development Initiative, Oxfam, International Rivers, and the University of New South Wales. These assumptions align with the five values that are discussed below in section II below:
- Sharing knowledge and approaches in a safe and deliberate space will enhance learning and support the modeling of workable solutions; and
- Inclusion, being heard and seen, and connecting to a network of other women will elevate standing (legitimacy) and will confront inequal power dynamics and support women to enter, or have their stories enter, spaces and contexts that have been previously inaccessible.
The development process of such a platform will support communication of lived experiences, collaboration and networking across borders. Stakeholders will be part of the development process, which allows for security and inclusivity concerns to be taken into account from inception, with regular and continued opportunities for consultation, feedback, and support. Buy-in from inception to implementation increases the likelihood of regular use. In addition, we will provide regular training on both the platform as well as digital literacy, which increases usability of the platform while also addressing concerns about security.
The purpose of this report is to identify the components required in a technological solution for women’s storytelling to support inclusion and participation in water governance. All quotes taken from interviews and surveys are included within the report as italicized text, and all quotes have been kept anonymous.