Water, Gender and Development

No Climate Justice without Gender Justice  As my blogging comes to a close, I realise that the overarching reason for many issues that women in Africa face are exacerbated by climate change. Africa as a whole is expected to warm by 3-4 degrees Celsius by the end of the 21st century. Climate impacts are becoming increasingly worse and more difficult to deal with and women and girls continue to bear the brunt. Climate related issues expose and worsen the vulnerabilities that women already face.  This is why I think it is fair to say that climate injustice is gendered injustice. Because it is women who are most affected by it. And it is also women who have historically and politically and culturally been most marginalised and exploited.  Climate justice is gender justice Knowledge and gender mainstreaming A study from the coastal regions of Ilaje, Nigeria found that impacts of climate change are felt unequally between men and women due to women's marginalisation ...

Drylands are at risk and pose a threat to food security, water security and the survival of people .  For rural women, whose responsibilities and roles vary to men, these threats are much greater. Policies and programmes which aim to mitigate the effects of climate change on drylands often omit women's need and contribution to management of dryland resources. This blog will discuss a particular case study that actually succeeded in empowering women at the local level in the context of drylands.  Women walking on drylands What are drylands? Drylands are particularly difficult to live in due to aridity and variability in rainfall. These erratic patterns of rainfall are exacerbated by climate change, making it even more challenging to live, often associated with increased mortality.   This is why efficient water storage and use are key to surviving in drylands.  These areas, despite their harsh realities, s till can and continue to sustain people . It is the way that pe...

One of my previous blogs explored gender based violence and briefly touched upon a report by Amnesty International from a slum in Nairobi. This blog will look closer at the report and discuss some wider structural reasons why violence is so persistent in the slum, and how this affects development.  The wider view Violence against women occurs as a result of wider systemic issues that continue to disadvantage and disempower women in their lives. For women in the Nairobi slum, violence is endemic and keeps women impoverished and underdeveloped. Rates of violence are likely to be higher with women of low income. The violence women face in the slum is directly linked to their everyday routines, in particular access to sanitation. This results in feelings of insecurity and indignity haunting the everyday tasks of women. The study stated that all women interviewed experienced some sort of gender based violence in the slum . Proposed solutions to improve sanitation services often do not...

As global water insecurity increases, good water governance is key in mitigating its effects. Effective water governance must incorporate multiple stakeholders to efficiently protect, allocate and share water resources between people and the environment . Women are deeply involved in daily decisions of water use for productive and reproductive work, therefore contribution of their knowledge and understanding can be key to effective water governance.  Women collecting water from water pump in Malawi It is important to distinguish the slight difference between water management and governance; management of water is something women do daily, based on gendered division of labour on a household level, however governance is about who holds the power to make decisions, who has the voice and means to impact water decision making. Therefore, it is crucial that women are involved in the governance of water, to tackle power imbalances and exclusion of women in decision making. Thi...