Putting Women at the centre of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene.

As I mentioned in my previous blogs, most of my blogs will focus on certain factors related to water that is affecting the development of women in Africa. This blog focuses on the role water plays on women’s hygiene and sanitation in Africa.  argue that it is important to put women at the centre of managing water supply, sanitation and hygiene in order to empower and reduce the struggles women go through in their daily lives.

Personal Hygiene of Women and Awareness

Figure 1: Standpipes in Kampala, Uganda
Retrieved from: https://www.softpower.ug/feature-i
nside-nwscs-2020-plan-to-achieve-100-access-to-safe-water/ 

At least 500 million women and girls globally lack adequate facilities for sanitation and menstrual hygiene management (World Bank, 2018). This is intensified in Africa due to either the lack of water available from dysfunctional water supplies or are required to wait until nightfall to excrete when there are no sanitation facilities or privacy in the daytime. What exacerbates this even more is the symptoms of menstruation, pregnancy and postnatal period which can be really problematic if women do not have adequate water, sanitation and disposal facilities in order to wash clothes during menstruation which ultimately requires more water than normal. This can essentially hinder women’s privacy and dignity, causing them shame and embarrassment due to the lack of facilities that fail to meet the demands by women (as all women know this is every month- imagine the psychological and physical stress placed on women every month.)

Being the sole collector and manager of water places a huge amount of responsibility on women to warily collect water from protected sources in order to reduce the chance of catching water borne diseases. As such, it is important for women to have the knowledge and awareness of the potential risks of collecting water from unprotected sources and the associated impacts on themselves and their families. In addition to this, women play a vital role in raising awareness about the importance of carrying our safe hygienic practices as they take the main responsibilities for domestic duties and for developing safe hygienic habits in children (Fisher, 2016). For example, a women’s group in Mwachingwala village in Zambia has actively promoted sanitation and hygiene issues since the 1990s through building latrine in every household and employing hygiene initiatives such as rubbish pits, washing facilities and teaching children good hygiene practice. This has overall led to the reduction in diseases in the village.

In most African cities, 70 to 90% deal with their own waste by building their own latrines or septic tanks (The Water and Sanitation Program, 2002). The lack of participation by the public sector has led to communities, mainly women coming together to form their own management of sanitation and as a result become heavily involved in the maintenance and providers of such facilities. In Kampala, Uganda, women have formed mini-networks of services which provide sanitation facilities in the form of standpipes for themselves and their families (like the one shown in Figure 1). This has been crucial in maintaining and improving personal hygiene as women are able to have easy access to water supply which could be readily used to wash clothes, clean household utensils and maintaining body hygiene by using more water. Thus, overall leading to positive health outcomes (Katukiza et al, 2010).

Inevitably, the improvement of water supply, sanitation facilities and hygiene practice are inextricably linked. One cannot be successfully achieved without the other and women are central to educating their families and community members about the benefits of using safe water, adequate sanitation and practicing good hygiene. Therefore, it is important to put women at the centre of managing water supply, sanitation and hygiene.  It is therefore important to involve women in the planning, operation and maintenance of water supply as well as improve their awareness in safe hygiene practice in order to not only empower women but to also overall achieve better health and sanitation outcomes.  Therefore, it is vital that women get involved in designing and maintaining water facilities which seek to deal with their physical and psychological demands adequately.

References

Fisher, J. (2006). ‘’For her it’s a big issue: putting women at the centre of water supply, sanitation    and hygiene.’’

Katukiza, A et al. (2010). ‘’Selection of sustainable sanitation technologies for urban slums- A case of Bwaise in Kamapla, Uganda.’’ Science of the total environment, pp. 52-62.

The Water and Sanitation Program (2000). ‘’Independent Water and Sanitation Providers in African Cities.’’ (Accessed:https://nl.ircwash.org/sites/default/files/202.6-00IN-18938.pdf,        19 November 2018)

World Bank. (2018). ‘’Menstral Hygiene Management Enable Women and Girls to Reach Their full potential.’’ (Accessed on https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/05/25/menstrual  hygiene-management; 19 November 2018).