IWMI Southern Africa

Yunqiao Shu joined IWMI Southern Africa on 12 September, 2011  as Post-Doctoral Scientist – Quantitative Groundwater Hydrology. Yunqiao has just received her PhD from the University of Copenhagen, and majored in Hydrological modeling and remote sensing.  Yunqiao is not new to IWMI. Her PhD was supported by a CPWF Project and the Capacity Building program. In China, Yunqiao worked as a Research Assistant at the Center of Agricultural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and has gained considerable experience in the use of internationally recognized modeling software.

The IWMI Gender and Water Research Methodology Workshop was held in the Kruger National Park from 11 to 15 April 2011. The workshop was attended by staff from five IWMI regions. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Anjal Prakash of SaciWATERs together with Dr. Barbara van Koppen, Dr. Katherine Snyder and Dr. Everisto Mapedza of IWMI. 
Participants gained greater understanding on how to mainstream gender and equity-related issues in their research and action. The participants also addressed practical and methodological issues to incorporate gender and equity in on-going research. More particularly, the participants improved on the conceptual understanding of different debates around gender and how gender and water are related. As part of this, they explored epistemological and methodological issues behind feminist research and feminist’s critiques of positivist research, which led to an agreement on the need to use both qualitative and qualitative methods in research.

In addition, the participants addressed the future direction of gender in research at IWMI. They critically looked at eight ‘best bets’ and framed research questions, hypotheses and perceived wisdom to develop five major research themes. Participants then developed research protocols that would guide future incorporation of gender and equity issues into IWMI research.

Prior to concluding the workshop, the gender group discussed the vision, objectives and broad activities of their work at IWMI. A broad shared agenda was finalised, with participants agreeing on the need for increased interaction and sharing at IWMI’s annual research review meetings on work related to gender.

A working paper and research report are expected from the workshop.  Presentations and information from the workshop will be on slideshare.

11-15 April 2011, Kruger National Park, South Africa

IWMI will be holding a workshop on Gender and Water Research Methodology, from 11-15 April at Kruger National Park in South Africa. IWMI’s gender team members will undergo training in basic gender concepts, gender conceptual frameworks and research methodologies.

The workshop is also expected to contribute to the documentation of the concepts and research methodologies, which can then be used by researchers within IWMI, other CGIAR centres and other researchers working on gender issues.

The IWMI gender team was set up after a review undertaken in 2009 by IWMI identified reasons for a decline in a gender focus since the 1990s. The gender review highlighted the importance of strengthening of gender research within IWMI. Gender has also been identified as a critical area in the upcoming Consortium Research Programs.