Kenyan Women in Water Supply and Provision - Research Paper Example

?Kenyan Women in Water Supply and Provision (Section) Due) The increasing international attention to the gender perspective in relation to water and sanitation has been catalyzed by the Millennium Development Goal on environmental sustainability. However, in meeting these targets the role of gender and especially women should be recognized in tandem with MDG number three. The goal reiterates the lobbying for gender empowerment and justice at all stages in the formulation of decisions and establishing policies. Introduction According to Rop, gender can be defined as the roles, activities and behavior socially developed and assigned to women and men in the society CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 .The effects of these roles manifest in the form of gender inequalities especially in terms of increased favoritism for men at the expense of women. In relation to water and sanitation in Africa, the integration of gender dimensions plays a key role especially when examining the roles of both women and men in its provision and access. In attempting to achieve the millennium development goal number seven, sanitation and water plays a significant part by incorporating the crucial role played by women. This is evident by the general importance of women in collecting water for utilization in irrigation of food crops, ensuring hygiene, and sanitation services as well as in taking care of domesticated animals. In addition, sanitation integrates measures aimed at minimizing humans’ vulnerability to infection by entitlement to a clean environment for living. The figure below represent the interconnection between the attainment of gender equality for women and how it impacts on water and sanitation and finally the positive effects on health, income generation and education. In Africa, women are tasked with bearing the burden of gender inequalities; which is evident by the fact that they are engaged in the burden of several kilometer-walk in search of water. Furthermore, they are the managers and users of the water as given that they engage in maintaining hygiene in their homesteads. However, the consistent failure by states to ensure that women’s rights to quality and sufficient water aggravates their capacity to ensure a healthy environment for their families and equally increases their burden in ensuring sanitation and hygiene in their families CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . The water and sanitation sector in Africa seeks to resolve the issues pertaining to availability and access of sufficient and secure supply of water and sanitation services. Equally so is the need to ensure that members of the community are able to manage and obtain safe drinking water by 2015 CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . It is equally considered necessary to mainstream gender issues to the water and sanitation debate especially the roles played by women and how they are affected. The primary reason is due to the recognition that it is women and children who are adversely affected by inefficiencies in water supply and sanitation facilities. Gender inequalities have burdened the capacity of women regarding water and sanitation issues which has lead to a more plagued society than before. There are a myriad of issues encountered by women in relation to the provision of water and sanitation. Looking at it from a Kenyan perspective, the following sections will determine the gender construed roles and practices in relation to water supply and its effects on women and children. Furthermore, the challenges faced by the women in Kenya pertaining to water and sanitation will be highlighted. Kenyan Women’s role in Water Collection and Consequent Effects In relation to water supply, Kenyan women are tasked with the responsibility of fetching water as they walk for kilometers ( as much as 15 to 20km) in search of the vital resources. The women are left with the decision on fetching water of better quality from a far of water source or opting for one that provides poor quality in a nearby area. Reliable and fresh water sources are found far away from the residential areas forcing women to walk for long distances in search of such sources. CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . In the water stressed parts of Kenya such as Northern Kenya among communities such as Turkana, the women are the primary providers of water to be used in household chores. The cultural norms of the community do not allow the men to perform such tasks considered “women’s tasks.” Consequently, the women spend an average of between 3 to 6 hours as they head of to distant water points which offer no guarantee of water availability. The unreliability of the water points is attributed to the seasonal nature of the water sources; mostly rivers given the high daily temperature in addition to scares rainfall. As a result, these women are forced to dig up shallow water wells on the riverbeds to source for water. Hence the women can spend up to an whole day sourcing and digging of these shallow water points CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . At South Gem location in Siaya district, women and children engage in fetching water from the only stream source which is six kilometers away. They spend at least two hours a day in order to obtain the water source CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . Average water collection data for Kenyan women in water stressed regions (Northern and Eastern Kenya) Distance from the water source Average time covered per trip Average time spent per day Amount of water filled per hour Short .75 hr 3.5 hrs 25 litters Short-middle 1.0 hr 3.0 hr 23 litters Middle 1.25hrs. 4.0 hrs. 19 litters Middle-long 1.75 hrs. 4.5 hrs. 16 litters Long 2.75 hrs 5.25 hrs 9.5 litters Source : (Horenstein, 1989) The excessive consumption of time spent in supplying water inevitably affects other productive activities that women should be engaged in. For example, the girl child in water scarce regions of Northern and Eastern regions of Kenya are condemned to fetching of water at the expense of their education. The regions with scares water experience high primary school dropout rate of the girl child since they are compelled by their families to engage in water supply. Furthermore, the literacy levels of the girl child in other water scarce regions are affected. For example, in South Gem region in Nyanza province, the children especially girls, are victims of high dropout rates in primary and secondary schools. Other areas such as Isiolo district, learning is frequently disrupted as children report late to school due to the early morning task of assisting their mothers in fetching water from the scarce seasonal streams CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . In contrary, the men, especially the boy child, are favored when it comes to the gender role of water collection. They are preferred and offered high priority for education than the girl child. Furthermore, the men take an active part in the decision making process revolving around the developmental issues in the society while the women are relegated to observers and manual labor. Consequently, in light of any water resource development initiatives aided by development agencies, the men assume the role of negotiating for the community without consideration of the women’s views. This is because in a majority of water stressed communities in Northern Kenya, the customary laws consider the woman as inferior in authority to the men and hence their verbal expressions are considered a taboo in community discussions. Moreover, their presence during such development meetings is not allowed CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . For example in Lokitaung region in Northern Kenya, the elder men of the community are placed at the forefront as spokespersons of the community in water development initiatives. Among the slum dwelling communities in areas such as Kibera and Mathare in Nairobi, the lack of access to clean, quality water as well as adequate sanitation services, offers a myriad of challenges to the women. For example, the women and girls become increasingly vulnerable to diseases and opportunistic infections. These include diarrhea, tuberculosis among others. Moreover, these diseases seriously affect the segments of the population infected by HIV/AIDS CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . In addition, there are threats posed to the lives of women engaged in long distance travel searching for water in areas of Northern Kenya prone to high insecurity. Regions such as Isiolo and Turkana periodically experience conflicts between different communities over control of the scarce water resources. Consequently, the women are prone to violent attacks from hostile communities, abduction and even death. In addition, the women are predisposed to domestic violence by their husbands especially when they come back home late from sourcing for the water. The male counterparts are unmindful of the long distances covered by the females in accessing water instead they consider it as a sign of laziness when they arrive late having not done other household chores expected of them. Further effects of water supply are; the available water sources are at times polluted by domestic and industrial waste which also puts the women’s health, especially the pregnant ones, including those of their children at risk. For example, in South Gem region, the rainy season heralds floods which pollute their only water source. The region lacks adequate sanitation facilities as a result, human waste is part of the contaminants present in the water sources. The region experiences water and sanitary related diseases such as cholera and diarrhea. Furthermore, the water related diseases contribute to infant mortality rates which are estimated as 17 times greater than Canada’s. Moreover, when children contract diseases from the polluted water source, it is the mothers that bear the burden of carrying their children to health centers to seek medication. They equally have to contend with the expensive hospital costs which create a massive dent in their meager financial resources that would have been used in the securing of basic necessities such as foodstuffs for survival CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . In addition, the women engaged in transportation of excessive amounts of water from distant reservoirs develop a range of muscular and joint complications which deteriorates their health status. In Turkana region, women and children carry as much as 40 liters jerry cans on their backs over 6 kilometers to their households. Coupled with the rough terrain that they have to travel, complaints of backaches and other joints are a common occurrence. Furthermore, a majority of these women do not seek medical attention for their ailments. This is because of their reluctance to seek treatment and also due to the remote and inaccessible health facilities in the region. Furthermore, the inability to obtain sufficient quality water hampers the efforts of women in ensuring proper hygiene. For the water, sources in areas such as Kisumu district; it is only 40% of the people that have access to piped water. The rest of the residents in slum areas of Nyalenda and Kondele, collect water from shallow wells and Lake Victoria generally polluted by domestic and industrial effluent. It is the women who use the water in performing household chores such a cleaning of the houses, maintaining personal hygiene, bathing their children and cooking. In the Kenyan society, the necessity of water to handle various basic chores means that there has to be sufficient supply that is affordable. However, in a majority of slum dwellings the water is rationed and sold in jerry cans at a price above the reach of a majority of the women’s capacity. The fluctuation of water pricing makes water supply unreliable for women. The quality of service accorded depends on one’s disposable income level. Given that their daily income is way below a dollar, it is even harder for them to have access to quality water in the slum dwellings. CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . The slum areas of Kibera in Nairobi are among the areas that have to contend with pu water daily. The female residents purchase at least one 20 liter jerry can of water at cost between KES. 20 to 50 for use in their daily household chores. The daily demands of the water costs prove to be too expensive for the population as a majority of them earn less than a dollar a day. Furthermore, statistical analysis has shown that the average monthly costs of water accrued by women in slum dwellings is 50% higher than the costs incurred by middleclass and upper class women in their households CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . The access to water resources and management is further hampered by a lack of women empowerment in the planning process and management of water resources. Being the main water users and managers, women have the capacity to provide insightful information on the best ways of developing water and sanitation projects. But owing to the pervading customary laws and state legislation, the importance of women has been consistently ignored. For example, Kenya’s Water Policy of 2002, generalizes the role of women in water management under the collective actors category. This level in most communities is dominated by the male members of the community in the decision making process CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . The critical importance of women in water development projects has been highlighted through findings by the World Bank. The findings established that women participation in water projects achieved seven times greater success in opposition to those projects in which they were not involved CITATION Wag04 \l 1033 . In the discourse over women’s role in water supply and distribution, sanitation challenges arise which constitute some negative effects to women and children. For example, the slum areas of Kibera and Mathare lack sufficient piped water to bath rooms as well as pit latrines. Consequently, it poses a physical risk to both women and children. The main reason is that women have to rely on the darkness at night to relieve themselves as opposed to prime time. The women resort to dark and hidden alleys or hidden environment from the slum dwellings such as in bushes or dumpsites. During such times, the women are at physical risk from a number of factors such as violent robbery and sexual assault. True to this, are reports released by Amnesty International in 2010 which established that many women in slum dwellings of Kenya had been raped when defecating openly due to a lack of water and sanitation facilities at home. Moreover, children at times have to resort to bathing in dirty and polluted water sources which are secluded from the slums. The detrimental effects posed have been widespread cases of child kidnapping, murder and even drowning cases. This has been especially true in areas such as Kisumu’s Nyalenda slums, Kibera and Mathare. Furthermore, the gender role of cleaning the sanitary facilities is usually assigned to the women in both rural and slum dwellings. In most cases, in slum dwellings, the sanitary facilities such as toilets and bathrooms are shared communally. The women engage in cleaning these facilities without sufficient water in addition to lack of protective sanitary equipment such as gloves. Consequently they are exposed to the risk of contracting diseases such as diarrhea which puts their health at risk CITATION Iru08 \l 1033 . Conclusion Within the Kenyan society, the central role played by women in the context of water and sanitation cannot be understated. It is the women that provide water and use it to avail various services such as irrigation of food crops, cooking and cleaning. However, the challenges they undergo through to avail the various water services are essential and a cause of global concern. It is in light of this fact the successful implementation of millennium development goal number three on promotion of gender equality will go a long way in alleviating their burdens. Although Kenya is still a long way from attaining fair and quality water supply for its population, there has been some notable progress. First, increased attention has been offered to the role that women play in water supply and demand in specific regions. First, in Lokitaung area of Turkana region, the women have been integrated into water development programs such as “Lokitaung Pastoral Development Project”. The development project has aided in the training of women in water harvesting techniques. The main goal is to ensure that women can collect water to be used in the production of food crops such as maize and beans. Secondly, in South Gem zone, access to water facilities has been improved. For purposes of increasing child attendance in schools, storage tanks for water have been installed in primary schools such as bethany Primary School.’ The storage tanks have a capacity of 40,000 liters and therefore expected to be used by the schools for drinking, cooking bathing and maintaining hygiene standards of children. Furthermore, the storage tanks are expected to deliver the water needs of the community and especially to meet the household chores performed by the women. Moreover, they are expected to reduce the time spent by women to access water sources and avail more time for productive activities. In addition, pit latrines have been constructed in Uthanya to improve sanitation and quality of water. The sanitation facilities have ensured that contamination of surface water sources are controlled and minimized water related diseases. In addition, neighboring areas of ‘Boke village’ have successfully been fitted with boreholes in order to increase women’s access to adequate and quality water. In summary, Kenya has been faced with water supply and provision challenges in the past as well as a failure to recognize the role played by women in it. However, the modern society has systematically increased women’s participation and awareness in water development projects as well their worth in other development paradigms. References Amnesty International. (2012). Insecurity and Indignity. 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Retrieved May 5, 2012, from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGENDER/Resources/gap-newsletter-spring-2010-ch-5.pdf Read More