Shouldering the Burden

A post from last October entitled ‘It is not a man's job to fetch water’ on the blog ‘Survival, Safety, Security: Gender vs. Water and Sanitation in Africa’s Informal Settlements’ written by Matita Afoakwa (http://reflectingongendervswater.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/less-than-20-of-seats-in-national.html) includes an illustration showing women carrying water while a group of men sit and discuss water management and issues of water. The women are clearly not involved in the discussion. Beneath the illustration, the caption reads ‘Less than 20% of seats in national parliament are held by women’. Afoakwa concludes that this picture is accurate as it reflects ignorant attitudes towards water management.

Clearly women in Africa do shoulder the majority of the burden of collecting water. Furthermore, they are excluded from major discussions of water management as are many different types of stakeholders. Without proper representation of the whole community, or more often several communities, water management schemes cannot be effective as voices and opinions are excluded.

An example of how greater understanding of the needs of stakeholders is required is shown in a study by Osman Bah in Sierre Leone. This was undertaken as part of the International Drinking Water Decade (1981-1999) set up at the 1977 UN ‘Water Conference’ at Mar del Plata. The aim was improve the water supply to rural areas by improving wells. After 1520 improved wells were built, Bah returned to the site and surveyed the water usage in this area. He found that only 10% of village water and 1-12% of farm water actually came from these improved wells. 74% of drinking water actually came from traditional sources such as open wells or swamp pits. The failure of this scheme came down to a lack of understanding about the position of the wells as all the farms in the area were remote from the village where the new wells were situated meaning the farmers had to travel to reach this improved supply. Furthermore, for women, the improved wells were largely felt to be unnecessary as the new location of the wells within the village meant that their conversations could now be overheard when collecting water, whereas before the wells were situated outside the village, giving the women a chance to talk openly together (Bah, 2016).

This scheme failed as there was a lack of recognition of how water was used and, as is almost always the case, women were among those affected. Whilst it is generally accepted that cutting down the time it takes for women to collect water is necessary, it is important to assess each case individually and acknowledge the opinions of those affected in order to achieve the most successful outcome.

For women, the problem extends beyond risks and issues when collecting water to those women who live in communities with limited access to water. In these areas, women are more at risk of blindness by infection from trachoma (http://www.gender.cawater-info.net/what_is/facts_e.htm).

As women face an acute number of issues relating to water, they should be involved in discussions of water management. Their personal experiences and knowledge would only enhance the effectiveness of any water management scheme and cannot be underestimated. Therefore, I do agree with Afoakwa that the illustration she used shows the ignorance of water management discussions as these can only be described as limited without the involvement of all stakeholders.

References:

Bah, O. (1986). The socio-economic impact of improved well water supplies in Sierra Leone.

http://www.gender.cawater-info.net/what_is/facts_e.htm

http://reflectingongendervswater.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/less-than-20-of-seats-in-national.html