Simulating the Behaviour and Displacement of Women in Water-Stressed Areas

Access to sufficient water is a human right and part of human survival, health, well being and livelihoods for consumption and domestic use. However, the gendered culture of water access, use and livelihoods have remained silent in the world of water management. With this perspective, the work conducted by the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies (IDMVS), University of Dhaka, in collaboration with REACH project explored how gender dimensions form a nexus between water collection challenges, spatial differences and gender division of labour comparing data from water-secure and water insecure communities (mouzas) in coastal Bangladesh. In this work, our objective was to model and simulate the behaviour of women towards water accumulation for household purposes, who are residing in regions with inadequate water conservation and distribution systems. Our simulation takes into account water risks that may affect the system such as river erosion and salinity intrusion, leading to a higher level of water stress. We have conducted this work as an extension of the project already being carried by REACH, but in terms of modeling and simulation to visualize and discuss empirical results found from our work.