Water Users Associations were first established in 1999, when Chhattisgarh was part of Madhya Pradesh State. They were revived under the Chhattisgarh Irrigation Development Program that kicked off in 2006. The program, financed in part by a $46.1 million loan from ADB, aims to improve small irrigation networks and how they are managed at state and community levels.

The associations had originally failed to get off the ground—or had become inactive—because the members were unskilled in water-system management or due to lack of finances because association water fees went to the state government, rather than feeding back into associations themselves.

Since then, this financial imbalance has been corrected, and the associations have been made more representatives of their communities. They now include more women, like Dhruw, and more members of otherwise largely ignored castes and tribes.

Read more: http://www.adb.org/features/india-communities-manage-water-resources-emp...

On International Women's Day this year, the global community is focusing on how to eliminate and prevent all forms of violence against women and girls. In spite of the major role played by women in producing food and feeding their families, little attention has been paid to the connection between gender, violence and food security.

Gender discrimination fuels female malnutrition and disempowerment. Very often, discriminatory practices in rural communities generate biases in intra-household food distribution, whereby women and girls usually have access to limited and less nutritious food.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/171299/icode/

This USAID project focuses their efforts to combine sustainable livelihood generation, natural resource conservation and empowerment of women through the provision of clean cookstoves.

Subsistence agriculture is the mainstay of the local communities, where peasant farmers grow corn and beans on infertile hillsides, and the harvests are steadily declining, due to climate phenomena.

El Salvador, and Central America in general, suffers heavy rain in winter - the rainy season - which almost inevitably leaves a trail of pain and destruction. In October, for example, the rains claimed 43 lives in the country and flooded 10 percent of the national territory.

Read more: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/energy-forests-the-feminine-art-of-re...

In Lao People's Democratic Republic, an ADB-supported project is bringing clean water to households and creating opportunities for women.

Some women from the coastal town of Cagangohan, Panabo, Davao del Norte have stopped waiting for their husbands to return from the sea with their catch. Instead, they have decided to head out to the waters themselves and fish.

To 20 housewives who have formed the Cagangohan Women’s Association (CWA), the first all-women fishers’ organization in the country, there’s truth in the old Chinese proverb, with a little twist: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach the housewives to fish and you feed them and make profitable businesswomen out of them.”

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/157865/untapped-force-in-agriculture-housew...

This is the ninth volume of Gender, Poverty and Environmental Indicators on African Countries published by the Statistics Department of the African Development Bank Group. The publication provides some information on the broad development trends relating to gender, poverty and environmental issues in the 53 African countries. Gender, Poverty and Environmental Indicators on African Countries 2011 was prepared by the Economic and Social Statistics Division of the Statistics Department.

Read more: http://www.afdb.org/en/knowledge/publications/gender-poverty-and-environ...

Women, particularly those living in mountain regions in developing countries, are facing disproportionately high risks to their livelihoods and health from climate change, as well as associated risks such as human trafficking, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Read more
http://www.preventionweb.net

The growing worldwide demand for resources is threatening the world’s environmental health to an unprecedented extent. Unless new policies are set in place, this situation could have devastating implications for human development.

In this context, women and children can be very active participants in the defence of the environment and stop, or even reverse, the degradation of our natural resources.

Read more
http://www.gulf-times.com

Mr Philip Christensen, Country Director, CARE International, on Tuesday called for more support to improve gender budgeting. That, he explained, would help in the fight against poverty and vulnerability to the effects of climate change among women.

Read more
http://www.ghananewsagency.org