Effect of Women on Collective Actions in Water User Associations

• In Event: Water Governance Issues

Abstract

The study investigates the transformative potential of women's active participation in Water User Associations (WUAs) within developing nations, with a primary focus on enhancing water governance. Employing cardinality matching for regression analyses on survey data collected from Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Bolivia through the Rural Water and Sanitation Information System-SIASAR, we systematically assess the impact of women's representation on democratic decision-making within the board, subsequently leading to collective actions. Additionally, the involvement of external organizations was leveraged as an instrumental variable to explain women's board involvement. Our findings suggest that the presence of women on the board holds the potential to contribute significantly to the improvement of water governance in rural areas of Latin America, enhancing collective action through the promotion of accountability from the board, and fortifying political and social systems against environmental hazards.

Author

• Ariana Montoya Lozano, Purdue University