Marcia Brewster on Women and Water at the United Nations

Over the course of her long career with the United Nations, Marcia Brewster has frequently worked on issues related to the intersection of water and gender. This Summit was originally released during the UN Water Conference 2023 - the first time the UN has held a Conference on Water since 1977, when Marcia was a young staff person at the Regional Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok and contributed to the Mar Del Plata Plan of Action from that conference. She also served as Task Manager of the UN Interagency Task Force on Gender and Water in the 2000s and was part of the UN-Water Secretariat in New York.

In this Extraordinary Conversation, Marcia walks us thru history of how the United Nations and other multilateral organizations (e.g. the World Bank) have approached the topic of:

• Women AND Water (i.e., how low-income women and girls, primarily in low-income countries, are impacted by the lack of water and sanitation as well as flood preparation and response - often incorporated into "Water As A Human Right" discussions since the 2010 General Assembly Resolution) versus
• Women OF Water (i.e. "Gender Parity" for Women Water Professionals and Women Working for Water Utilities and Organizations - both as employees and in positions of management and executive leadership)

Marcia discusses the changes in the representation of women in the field of water management over the years, noting that - while there are more women in professional positions - there are still struggles in terms of women being taken seriously and given equal opportunities.

She reviews some of the key sessions planned for UN Water 2023, including discussions focused on voices of women and improved participation by women at all levels in water management, and benefits that could come out of the conference such as increasing awareness through social media. She also ties UN Water with the work of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) - which met the week before the UN Water Conference with the theme of "Innovation, Technological Change and Digital Equity."