Addressing the under-representation of women in water management

On 14 September 2013, we will welcome eight women to our headquarters in Hørsholm, Denmark to participate in the Women’s Water Fund. Around the world, women are under-represented in water resources development and management. The Women’s Water Fund addresses this by helping women from developing countries advance their careers in this field. In the video below, DHI’s Professor Torkil Jønch Clausen – founder of the Fund – explains how.

The Fund provides women in middle management positions in the water sector with insight and encouragement to help them progress into more senior management roles. Programme participants receive a combination of formal training and hands-on interaction with managers in public authorities and the water industry. As part of the two-week programme, participants will:

• take career development and management courses focusing on the water sector, including
• water governance
• water resources
• environmental technologies
• meet with and visit Danish organisations in the field of water
• complete a one-week internship with an organisation in one of the above fields
• participate in a subsequent mentoring component

The Fund was originally financed by the ‘King Hassan II Great World Water Prize’ presented to Torkil in 2006. This year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark’s Danish International Development Agency (Danida) – is co-sponsoring the Fund.