Gender mainstreaming in Water Management

Gender mainstreaming within water policy refers to when a government illustrates its intentions to address inequalities and adopt a gendered approach. The issues surrounding gender and water supply is complex and contested, revolving around education, awareness of quality water resources, economic and social structures, as well as constraints etc, within households and communities. It is clear that gender isn't just about men and women, it is also about how behaviours and identities evolve and the unequal power relations that occur. Without highlighting how gender matters in regards to these social interactions and inequalities, misconceptions will arise and voices will consequently be ignored.

It is evident there are no clear-cut solutions that address women's participation within water management. Do we need more women to reach for leadership roles and a more top-down approach to stabilise the unequal male power relations and break down gender stereotypes? Or is it important that we change mentalities and attitudes towards water usage and the ways in which water access is practiced to contribute towards more effective and equitable water management? 

Through Cleaver's research in Tanzania, it is clear that we shouldn't forget that there are many different aspects of disadvantage that can limit the ability for certain people to assert their interests in water management, such as those who are chronically poor, or those with a physical disability, spatial remoteness etc. Dikito-Wachtmeister (2000, 221) also indicates that there are levels of hierarchy even amongst women that can hinder women's chances of exercising their voice, when it comes to women's participation in water management. 

Therefore I overall agree with Cleaver (2001:38), who argues that in order to address gender, as well as other marginalised groups within water governance, we must focus on reshaping the resources in society in the interests of equity. In addition, I believe that even if there are strong efforts to incorporate gender into water management, implementation of these gendered-approached management is equally important and needs to be reinforced and effective enough to ensure sustainable governance within these African spaces (Sadhu & Chakravarty, 2012:2). 

Examples of women's participation in water management:

1) Mabule Village Sanitation Project- The department of Water and Forestry (DWAF) and Mvula Trust of South Africa, with a combined effort of government and a NGO, were able to successfully address gender issues using a gender analysis tool, raising awareness through workshops, providing training in women's leadership programmes and installing Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrines to the houses in the community, against the prevailing cholera epidemic.

2) Chifamba et al (2013) study on women's participation on community management in Buhera, Zimbabwe, demonstrates that over the years there has been active efforts to involve women in participatory water-management for example, in regards to framing rules for water distribution, liaising with government agencies, overseeing construction, repair and maintenance. As a result of their involvement, women have become more confident and have been able to take control over their lives and have gained more freedom and mobility, through interacting with different stakeholders.

However Chifamba et al conclude that one of their major findings is that there is insufficient information on successful projects and there either needs to be more documentation of processes involved in ensuring effective water governance involving women, or more work in general towards this approach in water management. 

Overall gender mainstreaming ought to be considered as a predominant strategy in improving water access, as even though I think it achieves little on its own, I do think alongside other development efforts, it can contribute to better water access.

Women and Toilets: "Flush with Inequality"

After sharing CNN's article on 7 stories of African women and their personal experiences with toilets, in order to bring awareness of World Toilet day, it got me thinking more about gender perspectives of sanitation provision.

Penner (2010) discusses how toilets are a powerful symbol of inclusion and are an arena whereby distinctions in class, race, gender and religion are highlighted and contested, within built environments. Women face vulnerabilities when using public toilets as the holes at the bottom show their feet, making them more prone to attack or rape, and those who openly defecate experience a loss of dignity. 

It is clear that there have been efforts to improve public toilet access in developing areas. An example of this is the eThekwini Water and Sanitation service in Durban, South Africa, that install Urine Diversion (UD) toilets, which are dry and self-contained sanitation systems and divert urine in a separate compartment from faeces so it dries quicker. This has been an alternative solution to sewage systems that support flush toilets, as many households cannot afford to pay the associated water rates. The UD programme is low maintenance, can use nutrients from urine for fertilisers, and manages to keep faeces out of the water supply, reducing water-borne diseases (Gouden et al, 2006). However many aren't satisfied with this method of toilet use, as they object to handling their own waste and requires more effort than the "Flush and go" systems (Penner, 2014:136). The responsibility of disposing this waste and maintenance of these toilets generally tend to fall on the women in the households, in which many find it physically challenging. Furthermore, from a user point of view, many women feel that the toilet design isn't gender appropriate, as they haven't taken into consideration that men and women excrete in different ways. 

Source: http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-911-en-poster-ud-south-africa-2005.pdf

Even though, it is undeniable the UD toilets are a step up from buckets or pit latrines, there is still a much stronger preference for flush toilets in many of these regions, as they represent a form a modernity and better quality of living. However we once again must factor women's roles as, flush systems without in-house taps will increase their workload, as they have to fetch water needed for flushing (Van de Voorden et al, 2002:4). Additionally, within South Africa, it is clear that the predominantly rich white neighbourhoods are able to gain access to flush toilets and are not expected to use UD toilets, unlike many black impoverished communities, thus highlighting how the distribution of sanitation access can also be further exacerbated by race and class.

Overall, we need to be gender and class sensitive in regards to the various elements that make provision of toilets logistically adequate enough, equitable enough and dignified enough. Lastly in order to achieve social justice, it is important to ask questions such as, what are the opportunity costs for adopting one service provision over another? Who decides what service is appropriate enough? How can we address the structural inequalities of toilet access, providing a range of options, regardless of social standing within society?

Women and the production of Water

It is clear that nowadays women are mainly considered as water consumers and lack power as influential actors within water-based management. However historically, women have had a strong contributing role in the provision of water, and Page (2005:2) states they are in fact "the makers of modern water supplies." Therefore we shouldn't disempower and exclude the contributions women have made historically towards the production of water.

I found it interesting how he provides an insight towards the historical aspects of women's participation within water supplies in Cameroon. Even though women have been minor participants in the engineering of water supplies, they have historically played a role in the decision-making process, through rituals of resistance and protests, in order to express their own interests. For example, women protested against the governments attempt to close down public taps and charge for access to water. In addition some of the more traditional protests involved nudity, and aimed to insult and challenge the men in charge. Ardener (1975: 43) states "when the women of Cameroon subject a man to such a display they demonstrate that they no longer recognize his power to elicit conformity."

Therefore even though women have historically had low status, they have had sustained enough power to influence the production and management of water.

Shiva (1998:209) also argues that for centuries before colonial times, women were water managers, but it was Western influence and industrialisation that replaced women with male-dominated managerial systems. It has also been further exacerbated by modernisation and privatisation, reinforcing this hierarchical power structure.  

Page therefore (2005) attests that in order to sustain the argument that women have generally been neglected from decision-making processes within water management, we need to highlight the differences between past and present times. By looking into past water activities, it also helps us understand the main predominant factors over the decades that have made the situation acute and how one can implement future strategies to gender balance water management. I overall agree that in order to empower women even more so, we should "publicise their achievements in places like Tombel" and give women the support to get involved and reclaim water rights (Page, 2005:24) (Singh, 1998).

Page, B. (2005). Naked Power: Women and the social production of water in Anglophone Cameroon,

In Coles, A., Wallace, T. (Eds.), Gender, water and Development. (pp. 57-74). Oxford: Berg.
Shiva. V (1988) Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development, Zed Books