Symposium on Gender, Water and Development
Friday, February 8th, 2 - 4 pm. Weimer Hall 1084.

Dr. Vic Getz, Washington State University
"Gender, Development and Capacity Building in
India and Afghanistan"
Dr. Getz conducts research on gender and development,
sustainable agriculture and community development. She
has worked as a gender consultant, including as the Senior
Gender Adviser for USAID. She will speak about her
research in Kerala, India, which centers on Gender Capacity
Building and the Changing Role of Women in Governance,
Economics and Community, and incorporate
some of her experiences in Afghanistan as well. Her publications
include We Can Do Anything! Women and
Community Development Councils (CDCs): A Guide to
Activities for Developing Effective Participation,
Collaboration and Communication in CDCs (2007) and
Still the Back of the Bus: Choice and power processes in
women's political participation in Kerala, India
(forthcoming).

Dr. Sara Ahmed, Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET-USA)
"The Gendered Terrain of Water Governance in
India: Challenges in Facilitating Rural Women's
Participation and 'Voice' in New
Drawing on insights from an ongoing action-research
project on decentralized water governance in two states
in Western India, this presentation looks at the extent to
which participation has, if at all, been an empowering
process for women members of new water management
institutions. Is decentralization transforming citizens into
active subjects and establishing institutional arrangements
that theoretically are meant to facilitate good governance,
accountability and transparency in water management?
Dr. Ahmed's recent publications include the
edited volume, Flowing Upstream: Empowering Women
through Water Management Initiatives in India, (2005)
and Gender, Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods (MS
Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai (2005).