Organisers: Institute of Rural Research and Development (IRRAD) and UNICEF

Venue: S.M. Sehgal Foundation Auditorium,
                   Sector 44,
                   Gurgaon,  Haryana

IRRAD is an initiative of the S M Sehgal Foundation, registered as a Trust since 1999 to further the wellbeing of rural communities in India. IRRAD directly engages with communities, implements Integrated Sustainable Village Development in select village clusters and promotes citizen participation in rural governance combined with sustainable development solutions.

Description
IRRAD in partnership with UNICEF India invites the participation for their National Conference on 'Women-led Water Management: strategies towards water sustainability in rural India’ from interested development practitioners, academics, educational institutions, government and non-government organizations, media, think tanks, foundations and such others to participate and or make presentations.

At this conference, participants will share best practices of women-led water management at the grassroots, explore policies that promote inclusion of women in community water management, and plan collective action for furthering women’s roles in this sector.

Objective

• Create a network and leverage for engaging the policy makers towards Women-led water management
• Highlight and document the best practices experimented in different parts
• Provide a platform to present different models on the theme, and identify  strategies for scaling up
• Develop mechanisms to work with cultural issues
• Identify innovative technologies supporting women's leadership for taking the MDG goals forward

Topics

• Experience sharing
• Success stories/best practices related to women leadership/role in decision making/participation in water management and sanitation.
• Women’s roles in Water Management and Sanitation: needs assessment, planning, decision making, implementation, monitoring and social audit
• Innovative approaches to elevate women dignity and eliminate water related women drudgery
• Equity and inclusion
• Gender equity and inclusion in all stages of water management and sanitation (planning, securing funds, implementing, monitoring and social audit)
• Social, cultural, economic and political challenges for women leadership and way forward
• Capacity Building
• Ways to Strengthen women’s capacity in water management and sanitation
• Policy and Governance
• Policies, governance and institutional structures encouraging women’s participation and decision making

Abstract submission
Abstracts (max. 500 words) of papers should contain a thesis and describe the research to be explored. Proposals for small group exercises on women and water management are also welcome.  Each submission should also include one paragraph about the proposed speaker and one paragraph about the organization, if any.

Please foward your abstract/proposal to waterandwomen@irrad.org by August 20, 2012

Important dates
Abstract/proposal sumbission: August 31, 2012.
Authors will be notified by: September, 2012
Complete papers and presentations: October 15, 2012

Registration fee
IRRAD will support pre-approved travel cost of selected presenters from NGO and academic sectors.

Contact details
Plot No.34,
Sector 44, Institutional Area
Gurgaon, Haryana - 122002
Phone: +91-124-4744100
Email : smsf@smsfoundation.org
Website : www.smsfoundation.org

Download the attachments for more details