Tune in for webcast on women and water

Women bear the brunt of water collection in the developing world.

Credit: WaterAid / Jon Spaull

The panel discussion The Heaviest Load, presented by the WaterAid America Dialogue Series in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History, will be webcast live at 12 noon EST (4pm GMT) on March 22, 2008.

The panel will discuss the traditional role of women in managing domestic water resources in developing countries throughout Africa and Asia, and will explore how the participation of women in planning and managing community water services ensures sustainability.

The Heaviest Load will be moderated by President of the Women's Media Center and AMREF/USA Board Member, Carol Jenkins.  An Emmy award-winning former news anchor and correspondent who covered presidential politics as well as international issues, Ms. Jenkins is a national spokeswoman for women and the media, arguing the case for inclusion of women throughout the media.  She has worked extensively to promote the cause of the women and children of war ravaged Africa. 
 
The panelists will be Yassine Fall, Netsanet Mengistu and Lydia Zigomo, all of whom have extensive experience in championing women's rights in the developing world. 

Yassine Fall was previously Executive Director of the Association of African Women for Research and Development, and she facilitated policy dialogue between African governments and women's constituencies throughout Africa. In 2005, she helped launch the African Women Millennium Initiative on Poverty and Human Rights (AWOMI). Its objective is to empower and engage impoverished women and youth by fostering education and leadership and ensuring their access to economic opportunities.

Lydia Zigomo is WaterAid's Head of Region for East Africa where she manages strategic direction relating to increasing universal access to basic water sanitation and hygiene education, while championing equity and inclusion organization-wide. With 13 years of program and policy experience, Ms. Zigomo has focused on reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, rights-based approaches, gender mainstreaming, and women and children's rights in the African context.

Netsanet Mengistu is founder and Director of ZemaSef, a leading Ethiopian nongovernmental organization committed to empowering women by promoting education and technical training, increasing the awareness and active participation of women in human rights issues, establishing credit facilities and institutional support systems, designing and implementing support measures for food security, and, in general, sensitizing women to issues critical to family health and survival.

To watch the webcast simply visit the World Water Day page on the American Museum of Natural History's website.  

Read more about the moderator and panelists.   

Read details of the event, held at the ANMH in New York, for those wishing to attend.