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Women,
water and sanitation: Going the extra mile
Catherine Irura, Pambazuka News
June 10, 2008
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/48637
The African Union Summit
is here with us again and on 24th June to 1st July 2008, African
leaders will be discussing 'Meeting the Millennium Development
Goals on Water and Sanitation-. As our leaders deliberate
on this very important topic we must ask ourselves whether our leaders
will take into consideration women-s concerns over water and
sanitation and remind them that women amount to almost more than
half of the population in Africa and that their voices must not
be ignored. In this article we voice some of the concerns that women
would like their leaders to take into consideration as they debate
on this issue.
The Millennium
Development Goals (MDG-s) goal number 7 calls on governments
to ensure environmental sustainability. The goal is to reduce the
proportion of the people without sustainable access to safe drinking
water and states as an indicator the proportion of the population
using improved drinking water sources and using improved sanitation
facilities. Whereas the MDG-s voices the promise to alleviate
poverty from the world it is not legally binding on Governments
but instead forms the minimum standards for which all countries
in the world should aim to achieve. As a result many countries have
continuously used the MDG-s as a standard for their policy
and planning processes. The MDG-s as goal 3 also call on governments
to promote gender equality and empower women at all levels including
in decision making and policy formation.
The Protocol
to the African Charter on Human and Peoples- Rights on the
Rights of Women in Africa substantially addresses issues and challenges
that women face everyday including those relating to water and sanitation.
State parties are required to ensure that women have access to clean
drinking water and it further advocates for women-s access
and control over productive resources and most importantly participation
of women in conceptualization, decision-making, implementation and
evaluation of development policies and programmes. This is a home
grown instrument that was adopted by the African Union to benefit
women in Africa. The Millennium Development goals and the protocol
therefore merge in buttressing the place of women in sustainable
development, and their incorporation in planning procedures.
Water and sanitation
is critical to environmental sustainability while sanitation refers
to interventions to reduce people-s exposure to disease by
providing a clean environment in which to live by taking measures
involving both provision of facilities and behaviors which work
together to form a hygienic environment. There are various uses
of water such as for food, sanitation, personal hygiene, care of
the sick, crop irrigation and for the care of domestic livestock
and poultry. Women in Africa in an effort to ensure that their families
and livestock are well taken care of will walk 10-15 kilometers
to get water and carry up to up to 15 litres of water per trip yet
their significant role in water and sanitation is constantly overlooked.
Women are direct users, providers and managers of water in households
and they are guardians of household hygiene. This should be the
basis upon which women should be fully involved in public decision
making with regard to water resources. Improvement of the quality,
quantity and access to clean water liberates women and young girls
freeing up their time to engage in income generating activities,
education and public life.
States-
failure to uphold the right to water for all infringes on the rights
of women as household caretakers because they have to go the extra
mile to gain access to water, which is a basic right [8]. In lower
income rural areas, women have to use lower quality water which
makes the household susceptible to waterborne diseases which in
turn drains the limited household resources due to the medical expenses
incurred. The unavailability of clean water then becomes burdensome
for women reducing the quality of life as they have to forgo other
rights to gain basic necessities.
Women usually
have no rights and/or access to land for varying legal and cultural
reasons yet they are the majority of the world-s agricultural
producers, playing important roles in farming, fisheries, forestry
and farming. They are the least title holders among the property
holders in the world. For example in Kenya, customary law generally
limits ownership of land and only entitles access to communal land
so long as a woman is married. Legislative provisions may be gender
neutral but the application of land law is gendered. Most land is
registered in the name of the eldest male of a household. This not
only excludes women from the registration process but further predicates
the rights to use land to the rights of the male title holder.
Additionally,
there is little incentive for women to make environmentally sound
decisions and their lack of access to credit (of which land may
be required as security) hampers them from buying technologies and
inputs that would be less damaging to natural resources. As providers,
their willingness to eke out a bare existence despite access to
agricultural resources and education on viable methods of farming
may make them adapt to less labour-intensive crops and practices
that may harm the environment and drain the water resources. These
factors may lead to declining productivity and increased environmental
degradation. Recognition of women as land holders and contributors
to development would motivate them to protect the environment and
desire to realize the full value of land in agricultural production.
Women are also increasingly
becoming heads of households partly due to the numerous conflicts
in Africa, HIV/AIDS and other existing social problems. This means
that they are solely responsible for providing for their families
and take part in farming activities yet they do not have the legal
rights to access water and land (which are the main source of livelihood).
Since many women do not own land, women and girls constantly face
the threat of becoming economically unstable and dependant on their
male relatives or husbands. In the eventuality of economic despair
they may turn to means such as prostitution or transactional sex,
or bowing to certain cultural practices such as wife inheritance
that expose them to sexually transmitted diseases and other health
risks.
The absence
of clean water acutely increases the impact of HIV/AIDS. The causes
and consequences of HIV are related to wider issues revolving around
poverty, food security and water and sanitation. Bad hygienic conditions
affect people living with HIV and they need more water for better
health and general hygiene. This somewhat suspends household responsibilities
as death takes away family members leaving destitute children and
elderly people. In impoverished rural areas, where women themselves
are sick and dying it means that they cannot walk long distances
to get water.
It is a fact that the
proximity of sanitary facilities to the household increases security
and privacy for women. It also reduces health and digestive system
problems that arise when women have to wait until nighttime to relieve
themselves. Separate sanitation facilities for girls and boys in
schools also boost the school attendance of girls and ensure a safe
and healthier learning environment. For mothers and pregnant women,
improved water supply sanitation and hygiene leads to better health
and reduced labour burdens and reduced mortality rates for children.
Poor families
cannot afford to buy sanitary towels or tampons for their women
and girls to use and women use old rags, leaves, toilet paper or
sometimes nothing at all. Poor sanitation heightens the awkward
conditions women face during menstruation because it is difficult
to concentrate knowing there is no water, proper sanitary facilities
or sanitary towels to use. Students and female teachers may feign
sickness during their menses to avoid going to school altogether.
Given that on average a woman has her cycle 13 times and menstruates
4 days per period, that amounts to 52 days which is almost 2 months
in a year. That is a considerable amount of time to miss out on
learning and it negatively affects the general performance of girls
in school. In Rwanda secondary school girls have even proposed for
increase in tuition fees so that schools can provide sanitary towels.
It cannot be disputed
that sanitary towels are basic necessities for women and promotes
their sexual and reproductive health. Article 14 (1) of the Protocol
on the Rights of Women in Africa requires state parties to respect
and promote and the right to sexual and reproductive health of women.
Despite the separate provisions for sanitation and reproductive
health, we need to recognize the relation between sanitation and
sexual and reproductive health and their effect on the living conditions
of women. Lack of adequate sanitation and clean water makes women
susceptible to infections that affect their sexual and reproductive
health. The use of materials such as old rags and other unhygienic
materials cause a number of health problems for women which in turn
can affect their reproductive health. Often women have no resources
and even time to seek proper medical treatment and for many women
in the rural areas health facilities are often located far away
and are inaccessible. States must ensure that when discussing about
water and sanitation they take into consideration how the lack of
these two impact women and the society at large.
Careers and training
areas around water supply and sanitation are dominated by men. There
is a need to break the social barriers restricting the participation
of women in community based forums or public consultations that
influence water policies from the grassroots level. If water management
is to be democratic and transparent, it should represent the needs
of all, that is to say that men and women ought to have an equal
say. This process needs to delineate the specific roles and needs
of men and women in water management and how both can be incorporated
for equal and sustainable use of resources. Some of the basic rights
are intertwined, for example the rights to water and land, and a
practical approach needs to be established.
During times
of war and conflict, sanitation facilities in camps are generally
poor and women rely on foreign aid to cater for their needs. Women
are the worst hit by shortages of water and poor sanitation because
they have to travel longer distances to search for water under very
insecure conditions. Gender inequalities regarding political, economic
status, human rights, education and health increase the risks during
health hazards. There is a need for women to be integrated in the
process of peace building and natural resource management.
In conclusion,
despite the preponderance of various international instruments underlining
the status of women in access to water supply and sanitation, more
needs to be done at the enforcement level. There should be some
active reflection of the substance of these laws and adjustment
of procedures that hinder access of women to resources. The African
Union Protocol on the Rights of Women and the United Nations Millennium
Development goals have given Africa leaders standards that they
can adopt to ensure that the right to water and proper sanitation
is assured to all citizens and most importantly to women who are
the caretakers of homes and the users of water and sanitation for
the benefit of their families and society as a whole. African leaders
can no longer afford to ignore the voice of women.
*Catherine Irura is a Law Student at the University of Nairobi
and currently an intern with Equality Now, Africa Regional Office.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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