Women in Water
One of the emerging objectives of IWA is to promote the role of women in the water sector.To do this IWA is in 2009 taking an active step in promoting women’s participation and career development to higher management levels by creating a new programme for women’s leadership in water.
The IWA Women in Water Programme aims to:
1) Support and encourage women to stay in the sector, reach management level
2) Encourage and support the sector (men and women) to give equal opportunities to women for career development
Current activities include:
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A group of IWA members are finding out what the main barriers and challenges are for women in the water sector
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These findings will inform actions within IWA through an action plan or white paper
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Showcasing and awarding of women through the Hei Jin Woo Award
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Showcasing innovations and approaches that benefit womens involvemenet and empowerment overall
IWA Women in Water Award for Leadership Development
IWA Women in Water Award for Leadership Development is dedicated to the memory of Hei-jin Woo, a Korean female engineer and scientist working in the water field. The Award serves to recognize the achievements of a woman engineer or scientist working in the water field, with more than 10 years of experience, with demonstrable excellence in academic, service, research or administration. The Award is taking place every other year at the IWA World Water Congress.
This year the Award was given, during the 2011 World Water Congress and Exhibition in Montreal to Cassida Teixeira de Carvalho from ABES, Brazil.
For more information about the Women in Water Programme, please contact
Chloe Menhinick
Sponsored by
IWA Women in Water Award for Leadership Development
Ms. Cassilda Teixeira de Carvalho is a widely known and highly respected figure in Brazil, South America and internationally through IWA. She is a drinking water treatment specialist within the utility community of Brazil and long time Director of the Water Quality Committees of both ABES and AIDIS.Thirteen years ago, Ms Teixera conceived and launched one of the most significant utility programs in Brazil – the Brazilian Award Programme for Water and Sanitation Management called PNQS. Tied to a utility benchmarking system also developed by Ms Teixeira, this program has resulted in competition for excellence in many areas of utility management in Brazil. The consequences have been transformational for Brazil’s leading utilities. Ms Teixeira’s exceptional leadership was endorsed by Brazil’s water industry through her election as the current president of ABES, Brazil’s principal water association, and through her service on the IWA Board of Directors during the period 2008-2010.
