GIMAC Network

06/10/2026

La justice de l’eau est une justice de genre.
Le Document final de la 8ᵉ réunion du GIMAC OSC-CERs définit cinq priorités pour une gouvernance de l’eau transformatrice en matière de genre : renforcer les droits et la représentation ; rendre les écoles et les services de santé inclusifs ; améliorer les données et soutenir les entreprises dirigées par des femmes et des jeunes ; prévoir des budgets tenant compte du travail de soin ; et protéger les services d’eau, d’assainissement et d’hygiène dans les contextes de conflit.
Nous appelons l’Union Africaine, les CER et les États membres à traduire ces recommandations en dispositions législatives, en politiques publiques et en actions financées.
Lisez et partagez le document

African Union Ecowas - Cedeao Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) SADC East African Community IGAD Secretariat

06/10/2026

Water justice is gender justice.

The Outcome Document sets out five priorities for gender transformative water governance: stronger rights and representation; inclusive schools and health services; better data and support for women and youth led enterprises; care responsive budgets; and protection of WASH services in conflict settings.

We call on the African Union, RECs and Member States to turn these recommendations into legislation, policy and funded action.
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African Union IGAD Secretariat Ecowas - Cedeao East African Community SADC Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) IGAD Secretariat DW Africa
BBC News Africa

02/10/2026

When does a water crisis become a protection crisis? 💧🌍
Inadequate WASH is not only an infrastructure challenge, it affects women’s safety, dignity, time and opportunities.
Our latest article explores the nexus between gender-transformative WASH and AU-CEVAWG, and GIMAC’s call for accelerated ratification and action across Africa.
🔗 Read the full article below.

The 8th GIMAC CSO-RECs Strategic Meeting made one connection increasingly difficult to ignore: inadequate water and sanitation are not only development deficits. For millions of African women and girls, they are questions of time, dignity, economic opportunity, and personal safety.

29/09/2026

“Africa cannot achieve water security without gender equality.”
As the 8th GIMAC CSO-RECs Strategic Meeting drew to a close, the final reflections reinforced what has echoed throughout the meeting: water is about much more than infrastructure.
For women and girls, it is about time, dignity, safety, health, education, livelihoods and care. The closing call was therefore to recognise, reduce and redistribute unpaid care through WASH investment; put women at the decision-making table; and ensure that financing delivers measurable improvements in women’s lives.
Perhaps the message that best captures the journey of : “When we invest in water, we invest in care. When we reduce women’s unpaid care burden, we expand their choices and opportunities. And when women have equal voice and power in water governance, we accelerate the Africa we want.”
Three days of dialogue may have ended in New Alamein, but the work now continues, from commitments to implementation, and from consultation to meaningful influence. Thank you for making our joint convening a success!

29/09/2026

The conversations have produced a roadmap for action. 🌍💧
The draft 8th GIMAC CSO-RECs Strategic Meeting Outcome Document translates three days of dialogue into concrete recommendations for the AU, RECs and Member States—from enforceable water rights and women’s leadership in water governance to gender-responsive financing, care-responsive WASH investment, accountability and accelerated implementation of Africa’s gender equality frameworks.
Now comes the critical part: taking these recommendations from the meeting room into national and regional policies, budgets and action.

29/09/2026

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲.
Ratification will ultimately be driven country by country, and civil society has a critical role to play.
From Ethiopia and Uganda to regional networks across Africa, organisations present at the Strategic Meeting shared how they are using advocacy, research, survivor-centred programming, coalition-building and engagement with governments to advance efforts to end violence against women and girls.
GIMAC is supporting this momentum by mapping organisations, strengthening young women’s advocacy, analysing national legal frameworks and developing tools to support country-level engagement on AU-CEVAWG.
The call: take the Convention home, build the movement around it and keep Member States engaged.

From Ethiopia and Uganda to regional networks across Africa, organisations present at the Strategic Meeting shared how they are using advocacy, research, survivor-centred programming, coalition-building and engagement with governments to advance efforts to end violence against women and girls.
GIMAC is supporting this momentum by mapping organisations, strengthening young women’s advocacy, analysing national legal frameworks and developing tools to support country-level engagement on AU-CEVAWG.
The call: take the Convention home, build the movement around it and keep Member States engaged.

29/09/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬? 💧
Dr. Olumide Ajayi, Executive Director, Africa Leadership Foundation called for a care-responsive approach to WASH financing, one that asks who carries the time, labour, health and safety costs when essential services are inadequate.
His message: use gender-responsive budgeting to ensure WASH investments deliberately reduce unpaid care burdens and expand women’s opportunities for education, livelihoods and participation.
Success is not simply how much we spend, but what changes in women’s lives.

29/09/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥, 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫. 💧
Ms. Fatia Atugonza, Program Manager, Gender Justice & Women’s Rights, Oxfam in Uganda brought attention to the often-invisible connection between inadequate WASH services and unpaid care work.
Reducing that burden means investing in services that give women back time, dignity and opportunity, while ensuring their lived experiences inform the decisions and investments intended to serve them.
Care work must be recognised, reduced and redistributed.

29/09/2026

𝐈𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬.
Dr. Fortunata Songora Makene, ED, Economic & Social Research Foundation underscored the importance of evidence in shaping investment decisions that respond to the realities of women’s unpaid care work.
Investing in WASH is more than providing infrastructure, it can help release women’s time for education, livelihoods, entrepreneurship and greater economic participation.
The challenge is to ensure that evidence on women’s care burdens translates into planning, financing and measurable action.

29/09/2026

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭?
Facilitating the session on Financing Gender-Transformative WASH at the 8th GIMAC CSO-RECs Strategic Meeting, Paul Vingi helped bring WASH, care and public finance into one conversation.
The discussion challenged stakeholders to ensure that investments do more than deliver infrastructure, they must address the unequal burden of care, strengthen women’s participation in decision-making and translate gender commitments into budgets, services and measurable results.