Initiative:

NEXUS Gains

Developing capacity for women leaders

Work Package 5 (Developing capacity for WEFE actors, including emerging women leaders) supports capacity-strengthening efforts for improved WEFE nexus practice that target professionals working in ministries and local government organizations, the private sector, agricultural extension services, civil society, NGOs, and academia.

The challenge

Lack of capacity is a major obstacle to achieving transformative systems change. Without technical and soft skills and an enabling environment to implement sustainable and equitable nexus solutions, investments in this area are at risk. To develop, implement and scale nexus solutions, actors need in-depth subject matter expertise as well as soft skills, such as leadership and negotiation skills, to create an enabling environment. Solidifying skills to plan, implement and manage nexus interventions is particularly important in complex situations characterized by resource limitations and challenging political economies.

Women professionals in WEFE sectors face many challenges in exerting influence and progressing in their careers due to cultural norms that persist in the workplace. In civil society and the private and public sector, they continue to be marginalized in processes of knowledge production and policy and decision making. Where any attention is paid to gender equality, it is usually focused on the number of women included rather than the roles they play.

Our research

Throughout the first year of work, NEXUS Gains focused on understanding the capacities, needs, gaps, and priorities of key stakeholders – including women professionals – on WEFE nexus approaches and on creating demand from, and engagement with, key actors. A scoping study was completed in Nepal on the challenges women professionals face in influencing, negotiating, and implementing nexus solutions and a nexus leaders’ program was initiated. This program focuses on women professionals and provides practical training in technical and general skills as well as mentorship.

Research questions

  1. What capacities are needed to effectively develop and implement inclusive and sustainable nexus interventions?
  2. How can we make learning on WEFE nexus approaches more accessible in often resource-poor environments?
  3. How can we bring women’s perspectives, capacities, and leadership into local, national, regional, and global discourse and agendas on WEFE systems transformation?

Outcomes

NEXUS Leadership Program

Globally, NEXUS Gains is one of the very few institutions considering gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) aspects in WEFE nexus solutions. A journal article highlighted the barriers faced by women professionals in WEFE sectors in Nepal and approaches to overcome them. The WEFE Nexus Leadership Program, a key innovation that addresses some of these challenges, was developed with partners. It was piloted in Nepal in 2023 with 22 professionals, including 17 women. Two additional courses were developed in Nepal for policymakers and for graduate students. The latter was approved by the University of Tribhuvan for delivery by two departments starting in 2024.

Training and capacity building

Several other WEFE nexus trainings took place with national and global partners: an international summer school in Uzbekistan; two trainings on the FABLE calculator and other integrated modeling nexus tools in Ethiopia; and an online water–energy–food (WEF) nexus masterclass and an in-person WEF winter school for professionals in South Africa, with a consortium of partners. The latter was repeated and expanded to the Middle East and North Africa region in 2023, and created the foundation for a community of practice among WEFE actors, which was launched at a special NEXUS Gains session at the WaterNet Symposium.

Learning resources

Other WEFE nexus learning resources were developed, piloted, and used by partners. These included an e-learning module on GESI in nexus approaches which was taken up by GIZ and integrated into its WEF Nexus Training Platform, along with other GESI-focused resources, including the nexus-centered Power Walk activity. A nexus capacity scorecard was created and piloted to assess nexus capacities in academia.

Work Package 5 innovations

  • A cross-sectoral leadership program, with a majority of women participants, to design, lead and accelerate WEFE nexus thinking and practice.
  • An ecosystem of learning resources, trainings and communities of practice to support a cadre of emerging WEFE nexus champions.

Contact us

Marlène Elias: marlene.elias@cgiar.org

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