TOWARDS EMPOWERING WOMEN IN WATER MANAGEMENT AS A LIFESTYLE

UUM ONLINE: The School of Technology Management and Logistics (STML) and the MalTen Student Residential Hall successfully organized the National Water and Women Camp 2022 with the cooperation of UNESCO-IHP, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Perbadanan Putrajaya in conjunction with the World Environment Day 2022. This camp was held in three separate states at the same time, targeting different communities with the central theme of Water Management as a Lifestyle.

The National Water and Women Camp 2022 was held on the 1st, 2nd and 4th of June 2022 at the Botanical Garden in Penang, The Lake in UUM and Anjung Floria in Putrajaya, respectively. 60 participants consisting of USM lecturers, UUM and UNITEN students as well as PUSPANITA members from Perbadanan Putrajaya were involved in this camp.

The Dean of STML, Prof. Dr. Nor Hasni Osman said, the main aim of this event concerns various aspects of daily life, including efficient water usage for religious uses and promoting a healthy lifestyle in addition to encouraging less waste of water.

She said, the camp serves as the participants’ first stepping stone in their role as part of a new generation of leaders in encouraging efficient water usage within their respective communities.

Throughout this camp, participants were given a valuable insight into their roles through a variety of modules prepared by facilitators from an assortment of both public and private universities and the involved agencies. Some of the modules include promoting a healthy lifestyle with water, methods for reducing unnecessary usage of water, controlling water quality while performing leisure activities and identifying plants which can help to boost water quality in ponds.

In addition to the activities from the camp, Nor Hasni also officially launched the UUM H2O Squad that serves as the main entity for promoting water sustainability within the community of students and staff in campus.

In addition, the squad is also expected to perform activities and sharing sessions with communities in and around UUM.

To summarize, the camp has brought a positive impact to all individuals involved, especially the participants. The camp fulfilled its purpose as a starting point for UUM’s Disaster Management Institute (DMI) initiative in spreading the necessary knowledge to both campus residents and members of the community in reducing unnecessary waste of water.