This guide provides an overview of water-related topics up for discussion at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). It aims to introduce the Rio+20 process and facilitate relevant stakeholder participation.

It gives an overview of global water commitments, emerging issues related to water resources such as sound management and sustainable urban development, and an outline of where water features in the draft document prepared for the summit. It concludes with policy recommendations which include national strategies that recognise the human right to water, and the establishment of gender indicators that strengthen women's participation in governance. The authors say that a strong unified front from the water community is required to ensure a positive result from the agreements made at Rio+20.

The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) is the first measure of women's empowerment and inclusion in the agricultural sector. It aims to track the change in female empowerment as a result of the US government's Feed the Future initiative that tackles food security.

The WEAI focuses on five areas: decisions on agricultural production, power over resources such as land and livestock, decisions over income, leadership in the community, and use of time. The report features case studies in countries where pilot indices were developed.

The results of pilot projects highlight, among other issues, that wealth is a poor indicator of empowerment, and that lack of control over time can contribute most to disempowerment in some countries.