Maggi Barnard in Kyoto
20 March 2003
WOMEN need to work hard at acquiring skills and building their capacity in order to empower themselves as nobody else can do it for them.
This was said by a South African participant at the "voices of the grassroots women" session at the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan yesterday.
Khethiwe Moyo Mhlanga of the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) in South Africa said once women had achieved this neither government nor anyone else could take it away from them.
"Only hard work and careful planning would help us to build capacity and ability to do things on our own. This include technical knowledge to access water and produce food", she said.
A woman from a rural community in India demonstrated how the use of a simple instrument to locate water and retrieve it has helped her to become independent.
"I no longer need to wait for my husband to get water and start working the fields," she said.
Mhlanga said this was a perfect example of how nobody would be able to take away her acquired knowledge.
A male Indian participant said men still felt threatened when women gain power.
He added that African and Indian women were very empowered, as they had no other way.
"They have to stand up and fight for their rights".
According to him it was very important to spread the issue of gender and the forum should address it.
Mhlanga said South African women had been fire-fighting for 50 years during the Apartheid struggle and were still doing crisis management.
"Under the new dispensation we are still separated from the macro plan. Government still see us outside the realm, especially when it comes to water management".
She said women should no longer allow government to keep them out of policies.
Efforts to try and keep everybody in a community, including women, men and young people on board had proved fruitful, she added.
"Even men begin to recognise that without women they would not be able to make it. Women should be allowed to do what they think is best, to learn and to say what they need".
* The Namibian's Maggi Barnard is one of 50 journalists who were invited by Water Media Network to attend the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan.
The Media Water Network launched a competition for journalists and 50 were picked as winners.
More than 200 journalists from all over the world took part in the competition.
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