WUNRN
WOMEN & GIRLS - WATER &
SANITATION
"Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, those who suffer
the most from lack of access to water and sanitation, are the poorest, the most
marginalized and the most vulnerable," asserts the UN Special Rapporteur
on the Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ms. de Albuquerque, noting
in particular the situation of women, children, and persons with disabilities.
"More
people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including
war." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
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Water
Challenges for Women
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In most developing countries the task of
collecting water falls to women. |
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Credit: WaterAid / Caroline
Penn |
Imagine a life
without safe water flowing from your tap. Imagine then, if every morning you
had to get up at the crack of dawn and walk for miles down uneven paths to the
nearest water hole to collect your family's water.
Then imagine the
state of the water, filthy, dirty with flies buzzing around and animals
drinking at the same source. But you have no other choice. In many countries it
would take you over six hours every day to collect enough water for your
family.
Having returned from
this gruelling journey you could start the rest of your day.
Then imagine that
you had nowhere safe and clean to go to the toilet. In many cultures you would
have to wait until it was dark before you could relieve yourself. This would
expose you to the danger of sexual harassment, assault and animal attacks,
never mind discomfort, loss of dignity and sometimes illness.
This is the daily
reality of life for many women and children in developing countries. Poor
access to water, sanitation and hygiene has a particularly acute impact on women and girls, affecting their health,
dignity and life chances.
Women's work??
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Anna Mulambe from |
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Credit: WaterAid / Jon Spaull |
In most developing
countries the task of collecting water falls to women. In rural
The tragedy is that,
having spent so much time and effort in reaching a source of water, the water
itself is often dirty, polluted and a health hazard. Unclean water causes
illnesses such as diarrhoea and dysentery, which are responsible worldwide for
the deaths of thousands of children under the age of five every day.
The wells at the end
of these journeys are often little more than waterholes dug out deeper and
deeper as the dry season progresses. They can be very difficult to reach, with steep
sides, which sometimes can collapse, killing women and children. The paths to
these wells are narrow and slippery and many accidents occur. Imagine the
frustration of walking three miles towards home with a heavy water pot and then
slipping and falling - losing all the water you so carefully collected,
and probably breaking the pot too.
As well as
travelling such long distances, women often have to wait in turn to collect
water. Waiting times can add five hours onto the journey. Some traditional sources
almost dry out for several months each year and it can take up to an hour for
one woman to fill her bucket as she waits for the water to slowly filter
through the ground. To avoid such long waits many women get up in the middle of
the night to get to the water source when there is no queue.
In urban slums
without access to clean water women have to either walk long distances, use
dirty water from ponds and rivers (often polluted by factories) or they are
charged large amounts of money by water sellers. Women in towns need to find
paid employment to keep their families and so the need to collect water becomes
a drain on both their time and money.
Health problems
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The collection of
water consumes a great deal of time. |
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Credit: WaterAid / Caroline Penn |
Water containers
usually hold about 20 litres of water, which weigh 20kg, the same as the
baggage allowance on most airlines. Constantly carrying such heavy weights, commonly
on the head, back or hip, has severe health implications.
Backache and joint
pains are common, and in extreme cases curved spines and pelvic deformities can
result, creating complications in childbirth. Pregnant women sometimes keep on
carrying water until the day they give birth.
However, it is ill
health from the state of unsafe water and lack of sanitation that causes
millions of deaths a year. Providing clean, safe water supplies, effective
sanitation and helping communities undertand about good hygiene means that
these deaths can be prevented.
Ill-health impacts
greatly on women's lives. It is usually women who nurse the sick and take the
children to the doctor. Ill health adds to an already over burdened day. Women
have to juggle their time to carry out all the domestic and income-generating
work that they are responsible for. Collecting water consumes most of their
time and leaves little times for much else.
Women are
particularly vulnerable to diseases during the dry season. During this time the
journey times to collect water are the longest, food stocks are lowest, the
workload is highest and diseases most common.
Because of the
burden of collecting water and the fact that few schools have toilets, which
prevent girls attending schools particularly when they are menstruating, very
few women in developing countries today have an education or are
decision-makers in the community. Enabling women's voices to be heard in the
decision-making process is not easy, but a crucial part of ensuring that development
happens.
'Women with even a
few years of basic education have smaller, healthier families; are more likely
to be able to work their way out of poverty and are more likely to send their
own children - girls and boys - to school… Each additional year of female
education is thought to reduce child mortality by 5-10%' (DFID 2000).
For women everywhere
providing clean and accessible water and toilet facilities not only prevents
needless drudgery and indignity, but improves their health and that of the
whole family. Women's time is freed up for agriculture or other income
generating work, looking after their children or simply relaxing.