UN Case Studies - Harmonising the relationship between water and gender

The UN published a report in 2006 with a multitude of case studies illustrating the successes of various projects  aiming to alleviate issues which had arisen as a result of poor water and sanitation provision in the Global South. A key consideration for these projects, and for this blog post, is the potential for female empowerment through adequate provision of water and sanitation. In my last post, I outlined the ways in which an insufficient access to these basic services has resulted in clearly gendered divisions of labour and an acceptance that schooling is less important for girls than boys. This point will be further illustrated using some of the case studies from the UN report. Whilst the problems faced by women in these communities are very real, I often feel that UN reports can be written so as to exaggerate the successes of their projects beyond what might have actually been achieved. It is important to be aware of this favourable presentation of information, but as this post is focused more on the existence of barriers to female empowerment, it is not such an issue.  

The African case studies found in the UN report were located in South Africa, Togo, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda. Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe were perhaps the most useful in describing issues of a lack of female empowerment, so the post will be centred around these.   

Nigeria 

This case study is set on the top of the Obudu Plateau in south east Nigeria. It is home to Becheve agricultural communities, as well as Fulani pastoralists who, as we found out during the in-class debate, are already on a tight water budget as a result of poor management of the Komadugu-Yobe river basin. Due to the pastoral nature of the Fulani culture, access to sufficient grazing land and various permanent sources of water are crucial to their livelihood. Restricted access to this land and water has been a source of conflict within Fulani community, with the potential for major impacts on food security, economic and social security (Fabusoro, 2009). Within this context, the management of any domestic water is a contentious issue, and comes with great responsibility. 
In line with ideas presented in the previous post, women were acknowledged as the main providers of water, but had very little say in determining the usage of the resource, as traditional Fulani society is patriarchal. Female schooling was often overlooked in favour of sourcing water, and whilst women were not directly abused, they were not considered as having a role or contributing to society beyond domestic chores. The Nigerian Conservation Foundation became involved with implementing a Watershed Management Project which aimed to accommodate various stakeholders on top of the plateau, and to distribute water resources equitably. Female empowerment was strongly promoted as this new management committee was created, and resulted in progress towards gender equality.  

Women were involved in the construction and maintenance of a reservoir on top of the plateau, which, once completed, was a consistent source of safe water meaning that the time spent by women collecting water was significantly reduced. For young girls, this meant that they had more time for school, and were able to interact on an equal footing with boys their own age. As women had more time to spend on income generating activities, they were more acknowledged by men as being necessary to the functioning of society, and even gained positions of status within the Fulani community and water management structures.  

It is unclear what direction Fulani society might move in if its water supply were to be compromised once again – whether it would continue to recognise the need for female empowerment, or whether it would revert to extreme patriarchy. Ten years on from when this report was published, it would be interesting to know whether female empowerment is in a less tenuous position, supported only by a safe and accessible water supply.  

Ghana 

The Samari-Nkwanta community is located in the centre of Ghana, approximately 370km from Accra. It has a population under seven hundred people, most of whom are dependent on farming for their livelihood. Agriculture is a significant use of water within this community, so when the regular water sources would dry up during the dry season, it was vital that the community still have access to a measure of water. Women and girls were responsible for collecting from dangerous and remote sources, working an average of 19 hour days compared to the 12 hour workday of the men of the community. This seven hour difference is perhaps the most obvious expression of water-based gender inequality within this community, but there were also cultural blockades – the Muslim male dominance was considered a main reason for why women did not seek a more involved role within water management. The Ghana Water Rural Project encouraged the implementation of a community-oriented project which supplied the village with two boreholes with handpumps, as well as two public latrines and a urinal, all of which came with the condition that equal numbers of men and women be included on the management committee. Although this could be considered as interfering in the cultural practises of a society, it has resulted in a more equitable share of power within the community, so that there is less of a gendered division of labour and the length of workdays.  

Zimbabwe 

A gender mainstreaming approach was taken in Manzvire Village, in the Chipinge District of Zimbabwe. Gender mainstreaming is a strategy in which every project is oriented around improving and promoting gender equality (Manase et al, 2003). In this case, the Chipinge Rural District Council (RDC) used a contribution of almost $4000 USD from UNICEF to update and refurbish previously decrepit boreholes and water supply systems to the community. The project recognised that women, who had again been the main sourcers of water far outside the community, were losing time and education or employment opportunities to the search for adequate domestic water. It was therefore specifically aimed at increasing female authority in water management decisions, including selecting the new water access points. The UN report states the successes of this project as; lower water network maintenance costs as women are volunteers, women feel that they are equally respected agents as men, and women have more time for other domestic or economically productive activities.  

However, Manase et al highlight some possible failings of the project, and others which were carried out in Zimbabwe at a similar time. On a national scale, although women were empowered on a ministerial scale, this did not trickle down to the actual implementation of water management and gender policies on an institutional level. This is not to say that the RDC's work in Manzvire Village was not successful in empowering women, only that this success was not as widespread or as simple as the report makes out.  

In all countries, it is important to recognise the complexities in the relationship between people and water as a whole, as well as between gender and water more specifically. The UN report implies that issues of lacking female empowerment are easily solved, and that there is almost a formula that can be followed. It does not portray difficulties or ethical issues that might be encountered when having to overcome cultural norms, such as in the case of the Fulani, to make the society more facilitating of women's rights.  

References 

Fabusoro E (2009) Use of collective action for land accessibility among settled Fulani agro-pastoralists in southwest Nigeria, Sustainability Science, 4, 2, 199-213. 

Manase G, Ndamba J, Makoni F. (2003) Mainstreaming gender in integrated water resources management: the case of Zimbabwe, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 28, 967-971.  

UN (2006)  Gender, Water and Sanitation. Case Studies on Best Practises. Advance version. [online] Available at http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/water/casestudies_bestpractices.pdf . Accessed: 15.11.2016