Women and Irrigation. Water Users Associations and Gender in Post Conflict East Timor

虽然东帝汶政府在独立后提出了在所有政策领域促进两性平等的目标，但没有采取任何措施促进妇女参与由国际捐助者支助的恢复灌溉系统的项目。虽然妇女作为农民对东帝汶的农业作出了许多贡献，但妇女参与有关项目和负责其运作和维护的组织WUA（用水户协会）的决策相当有限。因此，女性农民仍然很容易受到上游技术选择、财务管理以及操作和维护方面的失败的影响。这项研究证实，妇女对灌溉系统非常感兴趣，因为它提供水，这是农业的关键资源，并建议随着促进妇女参与，不仅可以加强妇女农民的能力，而且可以加强世界农业协会的能力。由于我们观察到政府或捐助者方面存在如此多的故障，该研究还强调，应该改变政府官员对农民、总部对地方办事处、捐助者对受援国政府的“家长式”态度，以确保该系统能够在更负责任和更好沟通的情况下作为一个整体发挥作用。

While the Government of East Timor put up a goal for promoting gender equality in all policy areas after independence, no measure to promote women's participation was taken in the projects on rehabilitation of irrigation systems which were supported by international donors. Although women as farmers made a lot of contribution in agriculture in East Timor, women's participation into decision making relating with the project and the organization in charge of its operation and maintenance named WUA(Water Users Association) was quite limited. As a result women farmers remain so vulnerable to the failures on technological choice, financial management, and on operation & maintenance which are made in the upstream. This research confirmed that women are very much interested in irrigation system as it provide water, a crucial resource for farming and suggests that along with promoting women's participation not only the capability of women farmers but also the capacity of WUA could be strengthened. Since we have observed so many malfunctions on the side of government or donors, the research also emphasizes that'patriarchal' attitude of government officials toward farmers, of HQ to its local offices and of donors toward recipient government should be changed in order to ensure that the system will be able to function as a whole with more accountability and better communication.