Grants

Women and Water in South and Central Asia:
Building International Social Capital for Sustainable Peace and Development

This project, funded by the State Department, will support Track II diplomacy (people-to-people relations) and enhance capacity on water resource management as a key element in enhancing stability and prosperity in Central and South Asia. It brings together young women social entrepreneurs and activists from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, to discuss their experiences, best practices, and innovative solutions related to community-level water management. It will also connect them to U.S. institutions and the policy community working on water management and women's participation. The project includes in-person and virtual exchanges in the Central and South Asian region and in Washington DC, video and web content production, and curriculum development. The award is for nearly $300,000 and extends from January 2013 to December 2015. The principal investigator is Marlene Laruelle, research professor of international affairs with the Central Asia Program of the Elliott School's Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies; the co-principal investigator is Ariana Rabindranath, associate director of the Global Gender Program of the Elliott School's Institute for Global and International Studies (IGIS). Two other affiliated faculty are Deepa Ollapally of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Barbara Miller of IGIS and the Global Gender Program.