Water supply and women in developing countries

Women line up at a bore hole to fill their containers with water (Labuje IDP camp, Kitgum, Kitgum District, Northern Region of Uganda)

Water supply and women in developing countries is a complex topic, as lack of accessible, sufficient, clean and affordable water supply has adverse impacts specifically related to women in developing nations. In most countries, women are the primary household members responsible for providing water for domestic consumption.[1] The collection of water, which may take up to six hours a day to meet the household needs, is a duty often relegated to women and children. This foregone time often prevents children, especially girls, from attending school and women from pursuing small business opportunities.[2]

In 2000, the Second World Water Forum in The Hague concluded that women are the primary users of domestic water, that women used water in their key food production roles, and that women and children were the most vulnerable to water-related disasters.[3] At the International Conference on Water and the Environment, the Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development included "Women Play a central part in the provision management and safeguarding of water" as one of 4 principles. Many women's rights and water advocacy organizations have identified water privatization as an area of concern, sometimes alleging negative effects that specifically affect women.[4][5]

Inclusion of women and the efficacy of water supply

A woman walking a long distance fetching water in India

Water supply schemes in developing nations have shown higher success when planned and run with full participation of women in the affected communities.[6] A study including 88 communities in 14 countries showed that projects where men and women from intended user households were included in selection of site facilities, and where water projects were initiated by user households, rather than by external agencies or local leaders, achieved a final higher access to services than those that did not.[7]

Examples

Chile

Chilean law does not specifically include a gender component relating to water projects, but notes that all water projects must assess impact on the "lives and customs of human groups".[8] A study commissioned in 2000 by the Direccion General de Aguas relating to gender and the challenges of water resources noted:

All government institutions dealing with water resources have a very low percentage of women at the planning and decision-making levels. In stakeholder associations, their percentage in decision-making functions is even lower because women seldom participate in this kind of organisation. A sample study of water rights shoed that 16 percent of these rights belong to women. In the rural areas, the gender balance in water management is somewhat better, especially in the Indian territories. The current average percentage of women presidents in the rural zones is almost 20 percent.[9]

Uganda

The 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, Article 33 [2] states "The State shall provide the facilities and opportunities necessary to enhance the welfare of women to enable them to realise their full potential and advancement".[10] Evidence of this outlined responsibility, though excluded from official water statutes, has been addressed in the National Gender Policy, National Water Policy, and the Local Government Act. The National Gender Policy lays out a framework for gender-oriented sectoral policy in development. The National Water Policy calls for the inclusion of women at all stages of implementation, noting that "women and men should have equal opportunities to participate fully in all aspects of community management".[8] The local government act requires 30% of the representation on local councils to be women, currently at around 10%.[8]

Kenya

Kenya's "Country Strategy on Integrated Water Resource Management" addresses the issue of gender and water source:

As women play an important role in provision, management and safeguarding of water, particular attention will be placed on adequately incorporating and representing gender considerations in water resource management. The issues will be addressed from two perspectives: facilitating the participation and involvement of both sexes in water resource management; and the access(benefits) of both sexes in availability of water.
— Department of Water Management, Country Strategy on Integrated Water Resources Management, Section IV. Sectoral Analysis and Policy Recommendations. Poverty and Sustainable Livelihoods.

The text itself is slighted by critics as not referring to equitable participation and division of workload, as well as benefits. However the Kenyan Women's Bureau has begun to cooperate with the Water Department on these matters, through a focus on environmental management, poverty alleviation, and gender.[8]

Malawi

In Malawi, a group of men managing community water sources was found to be ineffective as they were often absent during the workday. A management group consisting only of women was set up to replace the men, and water supply was reported to have improved. However the burden was too much for the female-only group and communities now split the work with an equitable share of duties.[11] Women in Malawi have also initiative in the maintenance of improved water sources, forming water tap committees composed mostly of women and using the pipelines as footpaths, reporting leaks to the village caretaker.[12]

Gender and capacity development

In scaling down water projects to the individual level, women have been found to be effective teachers at a domestic levels, and gender-sensitive approaches to water and sanitation have proven to be cost effective.[13] In the Eastern Development Region in Nepal, a small scale water management project under a "Community Water and Sanitation Programme" has shown success in a women-led team, which manages 23 tap stands in a village of the Jhapa' district in addition to running adult literacy programs and latrine construction.[14] In El Salvador, The "Watersheds and Gender Project" has taught women technical agricultural knowledge, promoted women as trainers, and fostered female participation in positions previously uniquely occupied by men.[15]

Access

Access problems relating to water involve long walking distance to the source, low water quality, lack of a sufficient quantity of water, high water prices and poor system design. Women often suffer disproportionately from these problems. In Ghana, women and children suffer as the result of failed water supply schemes where women consumed unclean water to save money to feed children.[16] In east Nepal tap stands and tube wells were located along roads, so that women had to travel long distances or wait until nightfall to avoid being seen by men while bathing freely or washing clothes.[17]

Health effects

A hand showing  schistosomiasis itch

Health and access are often related in gender-related issues of water sourcing. In Tanzania, urinary schistosomiasis among women and girls was associated with the local practice of washing clothes in water infested with the vectors for the disease. As part of a project to drill wells the washing of clothes at hand pumps had been banned, forcing women to wash clothes in the open, infested water.[18] Cholera outbreaks are also of concern, as in Alexandra and KwaZulu, South Africa following contaminated water use which had been linked by some observers to water supply privatization in some localities.[4] In addition, women are often primary caretakers for HIV positive family members who require clean water in treatment, lack thereof can complicate existing effects.[4]

Water and gender in international organizations

The United Nations Interagency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) established the Gender and Water Task Force in 2003. The Task Force has since become a UN-Water Task Force and is taking responsibility for the gender component of International Water for Life Decade (2005-1015).[19] The Task Force has also called for additional empirical data regarding the issue, as "Neither the quality nor type of data currently collected are adequate to the task of supporting gender Millennium Development Goals in water and sanitation".[20]

The World Bank Gender and Development Group has also addressed the issue at an institutional level, citing successful "Gender-Mainstreaming" efforts in many of its Water Supply and Sanitation projects.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gender-Disaggregated Data on Water and Sanitation, UN-DESA and UN-DCP, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Water and Sanitization in Developing Countries: Including Health in the Equation", Maggie A Montgomery and Menachem Elimelech, Yale University, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Women and Water", UN Division for the Advancement of Women, 2005.
  4. 1 2 3 "Diverting the Flow: A Resource Guide to Gender, Rights and Water Privatization", Women's Environment and Development Organization.
  5. ↑ "Gender, Water, and Sanitization", UN Water Policy Brief, 2006
  6. ↑ , Van Wijk-Sijbesma, Christine, 1998. Gender in Water Resources Management, Water Supply and Sanitation: Roles and Realities.
  7. ↑ "Linking Sustainability with Demand,Gender and Poverty", International Water and Sanitation Centre, 2001
  8. 1 2 3 4 "The Gender and Water Development Report 2003", The Gender and Water Alliance.
  9. ↑ Direccion General de Aguas, Maria Angelica Algeria, Ingeniera Jefa Area de Evaluacion de Recursos Hidricos, Chile (this quote does not seem to be from a publication and the publication from which it has been quoted should be added)
  10. ↑ The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995.
  11. ↑ Deda, P., Rubian, R., 2004. Women and Biodiversity: The Long Journey from Users to Policy-Makers. Natural Resources Forum, 28(3): 201-204.
  12. ↑ World Bank, 1996. Toolkit on Gender in Water and Sanitation
  13. ↑ "A Gender Perspective on Water Resources and Sanitation", Interagency Task Force on Gender and Water, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
  14. ↑ Mahapatra, K., 1996. Towards Empowerment: Women Mobilizers in the Community Water Supply and Sanitation Programme in Nepal. Waterfront, 9:12-13, 18-19.
  15. ↑ Agua Project Report, 2002. El Salvador: AGUA Project Evaluation August–September 2002
  16. ↑ "Water Privatization in Ghana: Womens Rights Under Siege", Rudolf Amenga-Etego, Coordinator, Advocacy And Campaign Programmes, Integrated Social Development Centre, Accra-Ghana.
  17. ↑ Regmi, S.C., Fawcett, B., 1999. Integrating Gender Needs Into Drinking Water Projects in Nepal. Gender and Development, 7(3): 62-72.
  18. ↑ "Untapped Connections: Gender, Water, and Poverty", Women's Environment and Development organization.
  19. ↑ UN Water Activities
  20. ↑ Summary Report on Gender-Disaggregated Data on Water and Sanitation, 2009
  21. ↑ "Water, Sanitation and Gender"
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