Water network gathering

The background to this network meeting was a three-day Global Learning conference arranged by Sida (the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), and co-hosted also by the Dialogue Institute, in March 2021, which brought together many organisations working on the interlinkages between gender, environment, and climate. The Dialogue Institute acted as a MENA-hub focusing on gender, water and security (A summary report from the MENA hub sessions is available on our website: Gender, climate and security – report from MENA hub on development - Sweden Abroad). Development partners attending the meeting expressed an interest to maintain contacts and continue experience sharing. This resulted in the development of an informal network of professionals active on gender, water, and security in the MENA region, with the Dialogue Institute acting in a co-ordinating role. 

The purpose of the network is to create a platform for sharing information, experiences and ideas, to develop relevant policy recommendations, and to strengthen connectivity amongst professionals and organisations across the region with like-minded agendas, contributing to effective advocacy, and ultimately supporting efforts to solve the complex and often inter-connected challenges in the fields of gender, water, and security.

To explore the topic of overcoming resistance to change and effective coalition-building, Majd Mashharawi, Founder and CEO of Sunbox and Greencake, and Ramy Boujawdeh, Deputy General Manager, Berytech, talked about their work to overcome challenges and forge alliances to make progress.

Mashharawi grew up in Gaza, lacking access to internet, energy, and the rest of the world. During her last year of civil engineering studies, she developed the idea of making building blocks out of ashes and rubble, which was the genesis of GreenCake and a way to help resolve Gaza’s limited supply of building materials. A few years later she launched SunBox, an affordable solar system that produces energy to alleviate the effects of the energy crisis in Gaza and the first Palestinian company in the energy sector headed by a woman. Mashharawi explained that Sunbox has worked with the Ministry of Health to provide electricity to disabled children in Gaza, and after three years of operations, 68,000 Gazans have been supplied with clean energy and 36,000 inhabitants have been able to access  clean and free water from neighbourhood desalination plants.

Boujawdeh, with a background in change management, quality management, and operations, has been working to support innovative Lebanese startups and SMEs, in the fields of agriculture, environment, and information and communication technology. He spoke in particular about his work to strengthen women-led entrepreneurship, by helping them scale up their businesses and increase food production, while using less water and energy. In Egypt, he has helped a company re-use the waste from shrimp shells, and in another instance, he supported an agri-business in producing more crops with less water, and in accessing markets more effectively.

Inspired by these stories of successful innovation and change, the participants then brainstormed challenges they have faced and have overcome in their own contexts. Wide-ranging discussions took place in three break-out groups. These discussions resulted in a comprehensive set of recommendations that were later shared with the Mediterranean Water Forum (Home - The 4th Mediterranean Water Forum 2021 (medwater2021.mt), which took place a few days after the network gathering. They will also be shared with the World Water Forum (9th World Water Forum - Dakar 2021), being held in Dakkar in March 2022.

The recommendations included:

• Improving inclusivity and committing to real change, by, for instance, including more women at policy- and decision-making levels and by emphasizing the different and valuable perspectives that women bring to the table.
• Using best-in class methodologies and adopting new approaches, for example by involving women at the design stage of projects and by working both internally and externally with a gender-transformative approach.
• Supporting the development of female human capital, through, for instance, meritocratic and objective recruitment processes that allow women and men to be hired and promoted on equal terms as well as modern working conditions, where women feel comfortable and can participate on equal terms.

The complete set of recommendations can be found here.

The next water network meeting is planned for the spring of 2022, most likely in April or May.