🌊 Transforming gender equality in water governance
Women leading the tide.
On the coastal char of Char Lata, one of the places most exposed to climate change, OBHIZATRIK Foundation is helping women build the skills, confidence, and standing to shape how their communities manage water. The work is supported by IUCN.
Resilience, led by women.
Under the project “Women Leading the Tide: Gender-Transformative Water Governance in Char Lata,” supported by IUCN, OBHIZATRIK Foundation works to strengthen the capacity, confidence, and leadership of women in water governance.
In one of Bangladesh’s coastal chars most exposed to climate change, the project puts women at the centre of decisions about the water and resources their families depend on, building both their financial security and their confidence to lead.
The salt is not only in the glass.
The project starts by listening rather than lecturing. A household survey, a participatory gender audit, and long interviews with women and men, fishers and farmers, paint a stark picture: nearly 97% say coal ash from the nearby power plant has reached their ponds, rice that once yielded 50 maund an acre now yields 30, and many women spend up to four hours a day collecting, filtering, and storing water.
Four trainings, twenty-four days.
Over four practical trainings and 24 days, women in Char Lata build skills that reach from managing money to the confidence and knowledge to help govern their island’s water.
Financial Literacy
Practical sessions on managing income, savings, microloans, and planning ahead, including how to prepare for the cost of a disaster. The goal is steady financial footing for families in an area exposed to climate change and frequent storms.
Leadership & Negotiation
Sessions on leadership and negotiation that encourage women to take on leadership roles and take part in the decisions shaping their communities and their shared water.
Disaster Risk Reduction
Preparing for cyclones and tidal surge, protecting the family’s safe water when disaster strikes, and knowing who to turn to before the storm.
Water Management & Governance
Reading water by colour, smell and taste; keeping rainwater clean; caring for pond sand filters and tubewells; and carrying a water problem from the household to the Union Parishad.
Voices from Char Lata.
A charter of their own.
The project does not end with training. At a validation workshop the women move from naming their troubles to setting their own agenda — writing seven demands of their own, a short charter for safer and fairer water, and placing it in the hands of local leaders. The findings are shared in public and posted across the island, so that what is learned stays where it is needed. “We always knew the water best,” one of them says. “Now people are starting to ask us.”
Project snapshot.
An initiative that puts the women of Char Lata at the heart of decisions about their water.
- Project
- IUCN Bridge Grant — Women Leading the Tide
- Full Title
- Women Leading the Tide: Gender-Transformative Water Governance in Char Lata
- Implemented By
- OBHIZATRIK Foundation
- Supported By
- IUCN — BRIDGE water governance programme (gender grant)
- Research Partner
- INDEPTH Limited
- Project Timeline
- December 2025 – August 2026
- Training
- 4 trainings across 24 days
- Location
- Char Lata, Rangabali Upazila, Patuakhali
- Reach
- 60 women from the local community
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Read more →Back women on the frontlines of climate.
Support OBHIZATRIK Foundation as it helps coastal women build the skills and confidence to lead. You can give, become a partner, or share their story.