Peace, power, participation: Transboundary water cooperation through a gender lens

Gender influences water diplomacy and related negotiations, shaping who is selected and allowed to be at the negotiation table as well as who is heard. Through a review of the small yet growing body of literature that discusses gender, diplomacy and international negotiations, this chapter explains how diplomacy is gendered. The literature review also shows that the relation between gender, participation and securitization in water diplomacy and international negotiation has not been deeply explored. This chapter contributes to a reflection on this topic based on two case studies: the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine and the personal experiences of a female Sudanese water diplomat. This reflection shows how securitization can limit the space for the true participation of women, or those who do not adhere to the status quo, and also how reducing securitization creates space for the increased participation of women, both through different policies and through changing norms. These changes can come about very slowly or be triggered suddenly through large, supported civil society demands.