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Adapted from an article by Taylor
Luck in Jordan Times
MADABA -
Women in Madaba are taking a greater role in their communities by preserving
the Kingdom's scarce water resources. Under
the Water Wise Women's Initiative (WWWI), over 20 women in the area have been
meeting regularly and actively transforming their neighbourhoods into
water-conscious communities.
Established
by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and coordinated through
the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), the initiative
comes as an effort to build sustainable awareness and to spur behavioural
change on the local level in water resource management.
WWWI, which
has been working since June of last year, has been training women in Madaba, Al
Kafrein, Sheikh Hussein, Zarqa and Salt in water resource management and how to
be agents of change. In just a few short weeks, WWWI women went from knowing
little on the issue to being water-savvy in the fields of rationing, using grey
water, water protection, tank hygiene, plumbing and storage, according to
organisers.
In addition
to training participants on conducting water assessments in their
neighbourhoods, the programme highlighted the cost of transporting water, water
scarcity and how much of the resource is wasted daily due to carelessness. "I
used to think that the lack of water and poor service was the government's
fault. Now I've realised that we, as a community, are at the core of the
problem," one participant told The Jordan Times.
Eman Munawi
said she now encourages all her neighbours to regularly check the hygiene of
water tanks and clean their valves, often threatening to intervene on their
behalf. "Now my whole neighbourhood is cleaning their water systems on a
regular basis," Munawi boasted.
Meanwhile,
participants living outside the city of Madaba
are working on projects utilising grey water and rainwater to help irrigate
their villages' gardens and farms and reduce water loss.
"At first,
the women were afraid to talk and were very shy. Now they want to talk about
any and every issue; I think we got even more leadership than we bargained
for," said Mohammad Al Nuaimi, JOHUD natural resource management director,
noting that the response was so overwhelming and the initiative was forced to
select only a few of the interested participants.
Through the
65 women volunteering for WWWI, the plan hopes to reach out to 1,300 households
through peer-to-peer meetings, spreading the word of how citizens can save
water through simple actions.
"We didn't
want just an ad campaign or a few banners. We wanted people to talk
face-to-face to demonstrate how important managing our water is," JOHUD
organiser Hiba Abu Al Roba told The Jordan Times. "There has been such a
difference in these women, you can really see it," she added WWWI participants
agreed.
"We're
mothers, sisters and daughters. Whether they like it or not, they're going to
listen," Munawi said.
WWWI, which
will continue until late 2009, is part of GTZ's efforts supporting the Kingdom's
water management on the local and national level.
For more about JOHUD's work in environmental management, click here
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