Securing Water for Food is committed to addressing the constraints that women and girls face with respect to both access to and use of SWFF innovations and, where feasible, seeks to further understand the context, attitudes, and norms in their communities that affect gender and impact water and agricultural processes.

In addition, many of the program-level decisions and technical assistance support offerings have been influenced by a gender focus (e.g., gender specific indicators for SWFF innovators, inclusion of a gender-related service capacity in the SWFF TA Facility acceleration portfolio, gender training for innovators, gender specialists on the IIAC, removing gender biases in hiring decisions, etc.).

SWFF recently published an analysis and summary of the program’s gender accomplishments, activities, and lessons learned from the start of the Securing Water for Food program (2014) through present day (January 2019) and will be updated each project reporting period.

SWFF focuses on actionable and concrete strategies that incorporate gender.

SWFF focuses on actionable and concrete strategies that incorporate gender in a way that was accessible to and useful for the early and mid-stage innovators that the program supports. Gender isn’t just about women. Integrating gender into SWFF programming requires gender analyses that examine how differences in power, status, and gender norms affect people’s lives.

SWFF addresses the constraints that women and girls face with respect to both access to and use of SWFF innovations and, where feasible, seeks to further understand the context, attitudes, and norms in their communities that affect gender and impact water.

SWFF has taken significant strides toward finding the right balance between supporting and strengthening innovators’ gender focus without imposing gender norms that lack cultural context and sensitivity. We will continue to grow, adapt, and evolve to address these challenges over the coming years.

Download the document here.