Abstract:
Given the growing demand for water resources and its continued scarcity efforts have been in place
to change governance mechanisms to ensure its sustainability. The sector transformation focuses
on enhancing user’s capacity in developing, managing and sharing water resources efficiently.
Women are among the actors that are now recognized as managers than mere users of
waterresources given their gender roles. Therefore, policies and water resource management
strategies in many countries including Tanzania, demand women involvement in Community
Owned Water Supply Organizations (COWSOs). The argument of this paper is that
for
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women representation in water governance structures might not necessarily transform
gender relations among men and women hence making women voices unheard. Therefore, this
study presents gender dynamics in COWSOs in various villages of Gairo District, Tanzania
by exploring power and leadership positions held by men and women. The findings show that
under the support of external actors, women are holding a various leadership position in COWSOs
though the strategicpower of making decisions are still held by men. The study concludes that
numbers are not enough without capacity building for women to be able to influence decision
making process in water resource governance.
