Water and Sanitation

Women carry water 5 kilometers to their homes in Azad and Jammu Kashmir, Pakistan. (Image by Prof. Jennifer Davis.)


Image from UNICEF New Zealand


During Week 7, Session VII of class, we discussed lack of access to clean water and sanitation in developing nations. Lack of clean water and sanitation services seems so foreign to us living in the abundant U.S., we never stop to think about how many people lack these basic rights to human life and dignity around the globe. Indeed, access to clean water and sanitation is at the heart of so many other global problems, including disease and conflict. Without access to clean water and sanitation the other Millennium Development Goals cannot possibly be accomplished and in fact they are prerequisites to all of the other goals.

The Gender Perspective on Water and Sanitation, of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, is an empowering work, as it contends that giving women control of water and sanitation in developing nations goes a long way in improving water source management and living standards, because in most countries women are primarily responsible for the use and management of water and women have an inherent "environmental wisdom."

At present, women are solely responsible for fetching water from communal sources which may be several hours away from home. These women and girls spend several hours a day carrying heavy water jugs, which takes away from their ability to attain education and can lead to injuries and assault. Furthermore, lack of privacy in sanitary facilities in schools discourage girls from attending classes. Building separate bathrooms for boys and girls is essential for gender equality. For instance, in Bangladesh, construction of separate latrines for girls and boys resulted in an 11% increase in attendance of girls per year from 1992 to 1999.

According to the article, empowering women in communities like Kerala, India and Cameroon, where women have banded together to manage and build community water projects have proven to be more successful than when men were in charge of the maintenance, because men were absent during the day and lacked service orientation and financial management skills. Equitable access to water for household and agricultural use is imperative for women in developing nations as it is essential for gender equality, sustainable development, and poverty alleviation.

“The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. It is essential that both women and men be involved in decision making processes regarding the provision, location and technology of water and sanitation facilities in the community and household.”

I Belong to an International Humanitarian Organization called CARE, this video comes from CARE and it shows the impact of empowering women to bring about change. Please watch this short video of an Ethiopian woman who is changing social norms in her community. ABAY