The Case of Africa: Gender, Water and Development

This week we celebrated World Toilet Day, a campaign advocating for safely managed sanitation around the world.  Thus, I dedicate today’s blog to the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities for young girls and women (YGAW), referring to Rwanda and Ethiopia throughout. Have you ever imagined life without a toilet? Truth is, many of you probably have not and until recently, neither had I. Having a toilet is a privilege often taken for granted and for many people across Sub-Saharan Africa accessibility is a real problem. While 43% of people do not have access to basic water supply, 72% are deprived of basic sanitation.   What is period poverty? YGAW are disproportionately affected by the lack of access to basic WASH facilities. During menstruation, the concerns become increasingly visible; YGAW living in resource-poor countries in Africa, appropriate WASH facilities and sanitary products are completely absent or unaffordable, with limited disposal option...

Why the need for a gendered and child-centred approach? Hi guys, and welcome back! Last week I highlighted the inequities women face in accessing and using water due to cultural norms which prevail across many African countries and societies. Today, I want to keep the focus on inequity, specifically on the gendered nature of water collection.   So, why should we adopt a gendered and child-centred approach to understand water collection? Well, first and foremost, the task of collecting water falls disproportionately on young girls and women (YGAW) in the household. This is especially true for rural regions across Africa where inadequate water infrastructures leaves YGAW no choice but to travel long distances and queue long hours for water. The non-governmental organisation WaterAid estimates that globally, women spend around 200 million hours fetching water. Second, in Sub-Saharan Africa women’s lives are heavily influenced by water collection. The amount of time spent fe...

Hello again! In today’s blog I will be exploring the relationship between water scarcity, groundwater, and gender to highlight inequalities surrounding groundwater access and use. I will draw on the case studies of Uganda and Kenya to show that whilst women bear a disproportionate burden of functional groundwater management at the household and community level, they are repeatedly excluded from formal water governance .   Water scarcity in Africa It is important that we first understand water scarcity in its different classifications. Physical water scarcity is defined as a shortage in the availability of renewable freshwater relative to its demand. Physical water scarcity is typically seen in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa. Economic water scarcity concerns a region’s lack of capacity to use its water resources despite their availability. Such limited capacity is often linked to inadequate water infrastructures and poor water management.   These definitions alone...

Hello and welcome to my blog, ‘The Case of Africa: Water, Gender and Development’. Over the coming weeks, I will explore the intersecting factors of water, gender, and development in the context of African countries, and their relevance to one another. From water collection to water provision and management, this blog will demonstrate that there is a severe concern regarding water accessibility and the unequal and gendered impacts of this. The portrayal of Africa Binyanavanga Wainaina’s article How to write about Africa , calls for a revision of these common stereotypes and misconceptions of Africa as being uncivilised, in constant suffering and dire need of saving from the White Saviour. While there exists an abundance of text concerning water and development in Africa, many engage with Western narratives of Africa: ‘as if it were a country’. Western mainstream media has recycled these stereotypes one too many times from drawing on the ‘prominent ribs’ of those stricken by hunger and ...