The Right to Water: A policy imperative

Women and Water

There is a clear link between the lack of access to clean, safe water and a host of diseases that attack the poor in developing countries. Whilst contamination and exposure to water-borne diseases affect men and boys as well as women and girls, the latter’s disadvantaged health status and their traditional role in water collection, leaves them particularly vulnerable to the health consequences of inadequate safe water (source: Rights and Humanity, Häusermann, J, The Impact of Discrimination on Women’s Health, An Aide Mémoire for the CEDAW Committee and Friends of CEDAW, Commissioned by The Department of Gender and Women’s Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, 2002 ).

In many societies, water and fuel collection is seen to be a role solely for girls and women. The obligation to provide these necessities for domestic use, particularly in conditions of increasing environmental degradation, can place a massive burden on poor urban and rural women and girls. Where water for domestic use is not available in or near the home, the burden of water collection is compounded by the distance that women may need to walk to reach their source.

The time taken for water collection impedes women's productive activities and frequently robs children, particularly girls, of an education. At the same time, poor people pay disproportionately high costs for access to water, further impoverishing their family in a cycle of poverty.

Children, especially girls, in Africa and Asia, miss out on an education because their schools so not have adequate drinking water and sanitation facilities, which perpetuates a cycle of poverty Poor health caused by drinking polluted water robs adults of earning power through ill- health and premature death Sources: WHO And UNICEF, Joint Monitoring Program Water For Life 2005; UNDP Human Development Report 2006, 'Beyond Scarcity'.

Water collection is primarily a problem for adolescent girls, but girls as young as ten may be required to carry the weight of heavy basins of water (head-loading). This poses a threat to the girl’s physical wellbeing and may lead to her growth and development being stunted (source: World Bank Gender and Transport Thematic Group, Case Studies on Gender and Transport, Research on Banaskantha, Gujerat ).

In rural Africa, women and children spend, on average, 26 percent of their time collecting water, which often means having to walk five miles to the nearest water source Carrying water containers that weigh up to 20kg, on the head, hip or back has serious health implications such as curved spines and pelvic deformities Source: WaterAid Gender Issue Paper 2007

There is also the danger of injury associated with water collection. In many poor rural areas, wells are often little more than waterholes dug progressively deeper during the dry season. They can be very difficult to reach and their sides may be dangerously steep. Sometimes the sides of wells collapse killing women and children. Water collection can also be associated with increased exposure to water-borne diseases, such as schistosomiasis.

In the developing world, women's economic role in the household is also closely interlinked with access to water. In poor rural households, women often rely on income from growing vegetables and raising small livestock in order to support their families. As a result, then need a source of water situated close to their dwellings. (Source: JMP 2005)

The lack of sanitation also affects women acutely, as without sanitation facilities they are forced to walk to remote areas when the wish to go to the toilet. At night, this increases the risk of sexual harassment and injury (Source: WaterAid Gender Issue Sheet 2007).

Conclusion

The inequalities and vulnerabilities facing women and poor people raise considerable human rights concerns. It is a fundamental principle of human rights that everyone is entitled to enjoy, on the basis of equality, the necessities for life and dignity. Water policies and programmes clearly need to address these inequalities and inequities. As a result, increased attention is now being given both to taking a human rights approach to development and water programmes and to using the right to water per se as a basis for policy and action.

There is growing consensus that meeting the globally agreed targets on water and sanitation requires addressing the link between gender and water. Recent studies suggest that promoting women's participation in the planning stages and maintenance of community projects enhances the success and sustainability of the projects. Ensuring realisation of the right to water clearly also requires a focus on realisation of the equality and rights of women.

An example from Nepal shows the unfortunate consequences of not taking into account gender needs in project planning. The intervention resulted in inadvertently increasing women's burden. In all the communities involved in the Nepal research, women complained that their water collection time significantly increased (nearly four or five times) after they received the improved water services villages in east Nepal. This is because the tapstands and the tubewells were located along the roadside, where they cannot bathe freely and wash their clothes comfortably during menstruation, for shame of being seen by males. In order to avoid this, women carry water all the way to their homes several times each day. In three villages women reported waiting until dark to undertake these activities. Women complained that the surveyors had not involved them in designing the tapstands or tubewells themselves which would have ensured that they were appropriately located and designed. Sources: Shibesh Chandra Regmi and Ben Fawcett, 'Integrating gender needs into drinking water projects in Nepal', Gender and Development, vol. 7, No. 3 (1999), p. 2 cited in 'Women 2000 and Beyond: Women and Water', UN Department for the Advancement of Women, 2005.