Without a well trained, paid, and motivated workforce, the much needed services can’t be delivered sustainably. But where are the women? Women are missing on every level of water and sanitation jobs. Inequalities in access to equal education and career opportunities, biased recruitment process and many hurdles along the way within water and sanitation jobs remain high barriers for women making a lifelong and equal career. This is not only a problem for women who would like to enter and stay in the water and sanitation sector, but also for the current and future service delivery.  

So, what can we do about it? But this is another blog of the future :)

While we work on the barriers, we can connect women, create safe spaces and welcoming learning environments by women for women, foster peer-learning and advocate for women in water and sanitation jobs. Women’s Networks play a key role to empower women through those activities and many more. The Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, Svenja Schulze, experienced the importance of women’s networks herself and co-founded the women network “Women in Lead”, which includes female leaders from politics and business. She highlights in the Podcast “Entwicklungssache” by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) the visible effect of being stronger together and achieving more by precoordination of common goals.

The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance aims at fostering coordination and joint action of existing women’s networks from all over the world, joining forces to create an inspiring space for women to network and connect, empower, and learn from each other. We truly believe that water and sanitation women are STRONGER TOGETHER!

Stronger Together! Women network Activities

To rally all women networks in the water and sanitation sector, we jointly started our “Stronger Together!” journey to bring women together for networking and mentoring. With our “Stronger Together!” events women have the chance to meet at events, conferences and online in an all-women environment.

The event “Stronger Together! Water Women Monday” at the World Water Week in Stockholm 2022 formed the start. On the 29^th of August 2022 a “Stronger Together! Water Women Monday Morning Coffee Session – Women in Water Informal Mentoring” made the beginning, offering the opportunity to get in touch, share experiences, network and get top tips from senior water women. This was followed by the “Stronger Together! Water Women Monday Evening Mingle and Networking” event the same day, where women could connect and network over some drinks in a moderate atmosphere. Handing out buttons with the “Stronger Together!” logo was an unexpected success, supporting the networking process by showing the attendance of these women networking mingles to other women and creating a uniting feeling of being active together in this water and sanitation sector (photo Stockholm). The mentoring elements prove to be very valuable too, women are paired for 2 or 3 minutes and have the chance to ask questions about career challenges, which is a good basis for further exchange after the mingles.

The virtual “Water Women´s Day” event on the 7^th March 2023 offered five sessions inviting students, professionals, and employers to address challenges along the different stages of a woman’s career: attraction, recruitment, retention, and advancement. Participants had the chance to engage in peer mentoring, learn about the latest news from the women networks, employers could take part in a discussion of gender specialists describing the current working conditions and best practices.

Under the Slogan “Stronger Together! 100 Women for SDG 6” women met at the New York Water Week in March 2023, starting off with an introductory speech by the Prime Minister of Aruba, Evelyn Wever-Croes, but also signing pledges for SDG 6 phrasing how each woman wants to address SDG 6 personally and plans to contribute to the achievement of the goal by 2030.

At the “All Systems Connect 2023” conference in The Haag on 4^th May 2023 women came together at a lunch mingle to update each other on current developments and challenges but also make new connections.

The WOPs Congress in Bonn was another chance for female participants to meet at the “Stronger Together - Women´s Mentoring Breakfast” to get informed on the women network idea by opening remarks from Ulrike Kelm (WWSN) and Maren Heuvels (SuSanA). After that all women could use the occasion for broadening their network in speed mentoring sessions, meeting new colleagues and old friends.

These mingles showed a great reception and rising attendances, thankful responses and messages in the days after the mingles highlight the importance of networking meetings and its power to connect women in the water and sanitation sector.

Stronger Together! Water Women Mingles and Events

Involved Women Networks and Partnerships

The following networks and partnerships contributed to initiate and organize the events:

The African Women Sanitation Professionals Network (AWSPN), formed in 2020, engages in increasing the employment of women in the sanitation sector. AWSPN helps building and empowering the engagement of women in developing sanitation systems, not only in Africa, but worldwide.

The Women in Water Diplomacy Network supports the leadership role of women in the decision-making in transboundary regions, stressing the importance of inclusive decision practices. This network offers Community of Practice settings for women engaging in these transboundary fields to learn from each other, share experiences and build new connections. The Women for Water Partnership (WfWP) is a diverse network of 28 organizations engaged in water and sanitation services, sustainable development and women empowerment. The water topic serves as an entry point to strengthen equality and the role of the woman in the society and to improve the accessibility of water. The engaged organizations come from diverse backgrounds such as universities, women networks from rural areas or businesswomen networks.

The Community of Women in Water (CWIW) was founded in 2019 and consists of more than 800 women active in the water sector, giving the opportunity to connect on an international level and embracing the special sort of support women can give to one another. On this behalf CWiW focuses on offering learning and exchange platforms, to share experiences, resources, help and ask questions.

The Women in Water and Sanitation Network (WWSN) proclaims the role of being an ambassador for the success of SDG 6, the human right on water and sanitation services, protection of water resources and the equality of gender. WWSN has more than 750 members worldwide and 3 main goals: 1. Offering a platform for networking and professional development, 2. securing safe and gender sensitive work fields, 3. rising the visibility of female workforces.