GENDER, WATER AND DEVELOPMENT; ED. BY ANNE COLES

Published in 2005 by Berg, Gender, Water and Development was edited by Anne Coles to address the critical intersection of social equity and natural resource management. The collection emerged from a growing academic and policy-oriented effort to integrate gender-sensitive frameworks into international development projects, specifically those involving water access, sanitation, and irrigation in the Global South. It sought to move beyond top-down infrastructure models to explore how gendered roles influence water usage and management at the household and community levels.

The book brings together diverse case studies from regions including South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East, synthesized by Anne Coles to bridge the gap between feminist geography and development studies. The contributors intended to highlight the invisible labor performed by women in managing water resources and to provide empirical evidence for policymakers who had historically overlooked these social dynamics. Upon its release, it was recognized as a practical resource for practitioners and researchers aiming to make development interventions more inclusive and sustainable.