gender and water.pdf

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Journal of Environment and Earth Science www.iiste.org

ISSN 2224-3216 !a"er# ISSN 222$-%&4' (nline#

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Gender and Water Management Practices in Ghana

Juliette +. ,oateng1

. /. ,rown* and E. 0. enorang2

1.

entral egional Education (ffice* hana Education Service* a"e oast* hana2. Institute of +evelo"ment Studies* 5niversit of a"e oast* a"e oast* hana

Email of the corres"onding author78uliette.9oateng6:gmail.com;

Abstract

his article discusses gender and water management "ractices in the


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"artici"ation in all decision-maing "rocesses of all concerned* "articularl indigenous "eo"le in rural areas and

women )erhasselt* 1&&'; ?orld ,an* 1&&3#. he +u9lin onference* for instance* gave rise to four "rinci"les

that have 9een the 9asis for much of the su9se=uent water sector reforms on water management. hese "rinci"les

introduced a new a""roach nown as the Integrated ?ater esources Banagement I?B# which* among other

things* acnowledges fresh water as a finite and vulnera9le resource and the central role women "la in its

"rovision and management ?!* 2%%$#. ists ver little evidence of

e>"licit attem"ts at increasing or im"roving the involvement of women Sher"a* 2%%4# in water management

initiatives. his is 9ecause the channels through which water su""lies are 9eing managed* and socio-economic

norms which are 9eing em"hasised* in fact* tend to weaen and reinforce une=ual "artici"ation in technical

training "rogrammes* decision-maing "rocesses* and womenAs "osition in water management and usersA

committees


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9oth as actors in and "otential 9eneficiaries of such develo"ment "rocesses. Since 1&$%* there have 9een a

num9er of definitions and a""roaches that have guided "rograms for women in develo"ing countries Sigenu*

2%%6#. hese a""roaches were useful in understanding the different "ers"ectives taen 9 donors and

governments in creating and im"lementing interventions and develo"ment activities whose "ur"ose was to assist

women.

,ased on the wor of Bolneu> 1&'$#* Boser 1&&4# argues that* 9ecause women and men have different"ositions within the household and different control over resources* the do not onl "la different changing roles

in societ 9ut also often have different needs. She reiterates that women t"icall tae on three t"es of roles in

terms of their "aid and un"aid la9our. hese tri"le roles are7

re"roductive involves care and maintenance of the household and all its mem9ers#;

"roductive involves "roduction of goods and services for consum"tion and trade or wor done for

"ament in cash or ind#; and

communit-9ased involves organisation and management of communit* events* services and

"olitics through wages or increases in status and "ower#.

?ith regard to needs* Boser 1&&4# distinguishes 9etween Strategic ender Needs SNs# and !ractical ender

Needs !Ns#. Strategic ender Needs are the needs women identif to overcome their su9ordinate "osition to

men in their societ. he relate to divisions of la9our* "ower and control and ma include such issues as

alleviation of the 9urden of domestic la9our and childcare; freedom of choice; and measures against male violenceand control over women Bolneu> as cited in Boser* 1&&4#. Beeting such needs do not onl hel" women to

achieve greater e=ualit it also changes e>isting roles and* therefore* challenges their su9ordinate "ositions. Such

needs var according to the economic* "olitical* social and cultural conte>t Boser* 1&&4#. Some actions that

address Strategic ender Needs are7

im"roving education o""ortunities* e.g. adult literac classes* female teachers "rovided as role

models and gender-aware te>t9oos;

im"roving access to "roductive assets* e.g. legal status on land ownershi"* rights to common

"ro"ert and 9an accounts;

ena9ling women to tae "art in decision-maing* e.g. "artici"ation in elections* re"resentation at

the local* regional and national levels* and esta9lishing and su""orting womenAs grou"s; and

"romoting e=ual o""ortunities for em"loment* e.g. e=ual "a for com"ara9le 8o9s even if there is

a gender division of la9our# and increasing womenAs access to 8o9s traditionall done 9 men.

!ractical ender Needs* !Ns* in contrast* are needs women identif in their sociall acce"ted roles in societ.

(ften* these needs are related to their roles as mothers* homemaers and "roviders of 9asic needs. he do not

challenge the gender divisions of la9our or womenAs su9ordinate "osition in societ* although rising out of them.

!ractical gender needs are usuall a res"onse to an immediate "erceived necessit which is identified 9 women

within a s"ecific conte>t. he are "ractical in nature and are often concerned with inade=uacies in living

conditions* such as water "rovision* health care* and em"loment. 5nlie the strategic needs* "ractical needs are

formulated directl 9 women in these "ositions* rather than through e>ternal interventions. has

stated* the do not generall entail a strategic goal* such as womenAs emanci"ation or gender e=ualit... nor do

the challenge the "revailing forms of su9ordination even though the arise directl out of themA Boser* 1&&4*

".4%#. he arise as needs for women out of their im"overished situation. !ro8ects can meet the "ractical gender

needs of 9oth men and women without necessaril changing their relative "ositions in societ. E>am"les of

actions that address "ractical gender needs are7

reducing womenAs worload* e.g. location of stand-"i"es and hand-"um"s* "roviding grinding millsand develo"ing fuel-efficient stoves;

im"roving health* e.g. "rimar health centres* clean water su""l and child s"acingfamil "lanning

advice;

im"roving services* e.g. "rimar schools* housing infrastructure and trans"ort facilities;

increasing income* e.g. sills training* credit initiatives and access to marets.

oates 1&& maintains that "ractical and strategic needs cannot 9e neatl se"arated. Fe "oints out that ever

"ractical intervention has an effect on strategic areas of life "ower relations and control#* whether it is intended

or not Barch* Smth C Buho"adha* 1&&. Fowever* in assessing BoserAs gender roles and needs*

Shahrashou9 and Biller 1&&$# "oint out that the focus on needs could not onl mae "lanning to"-down* 9ut

also ma create "assive 9eneficiaries. he need to 9ring the interests of women into national develo"ment

"ro8ects have slowl cre"t onto the agenda of national and international develo"ment agencies with various

efforts and a""roaches 9eing made to involve women in man develo"ment activities. he first ma8or a""roachto this agenda was ?omen in +evelo"ment ?I+#* a term coined 9 a ?ashington-9ased networ of female

develo"ment "rofessionals in the earl 1&H%s. ?I+ recognised women as an unta""ed resource that can "rovide


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economic contri9ution to develo"ment* if integrated into the "rocess iner* 1&&%#. hus* for a more efficient

and effective develo"ment* the active "artici"ation of women is crucial Boser* 1&&4#. Boser 1&&4# identified

five main strategies that are lined to the ?I+ a""roach in meeting womenGs needs7 welfare* e=uit* "overt*

efficienc and em"owerment. he welfare strateg was "redominant during the "eriod 1&$%-1&H%* although it

was su9se=uentl used 9 various agencies* including 5S


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I 1&&2# o9serves that womenGs "artici"ation is limited to some women 9eing invited to meetings to 9e

nominal mem9ers of water committees 9 "ro8ect officials in consultation with local men or the local N(* or*

at the most* to tae demanding and often tedious roles.


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aged 1' ears and a9ove* who had staed in the communit for at least two ears* formed the sam"ling unit for

the selection. In all 2$6 household res"ondents mean age of 41.'* with a standard deviation of 14.$ ears

he "ur"osive sam"ling techni=ue was em"loed in the selection of females ?


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?"lained* gave them a low level of ver9al "artici"ation in decision-maing* des"ite their res"onsi9ilities aswater managers. Such a low level of "artici"ation was* thus* an indicator of "ro8ect failure as women on the

committees ma not 9e a9le to influence decisions much +uncer* 2%%1#.

"ressed interests to attend training "rogrammes for "um" mechanics* the never heard anthing a9out it again.

he views e>"ressed 9 these women su""orted the assertion 9 Behra and Esim 1&&'# and Sands 2%%$# that

there was a gender divide in silled and unsilled wors in ?S! management. he argued that while men

normall "artici"ated in silled 8o9s* such as "um" mechanics* women onl assumed res"onsi9ilit for unsilled

tass* such as "um" site cleaners. Fowever* a 46-ear old woman during the @+ at /waururom "ointed out

=uicl that the a""ointment of women as "um" cleaners* whose role was to see to the cleanliness of the "um"

site* was in the right direction. ?hen ased wh* she =uicl res"onded that7

the "um" sites managed 9 females were cleaner than those managed 9 men. hus* one isforced to remove hisher sandals* when visiting the female "um" sites for water

his also meant that issues of hgiene education and awareness creation to the communit were mostl carried

out 9 women who mostl served as hgiene officers. ?ith men as "um" mechanics* there was clear evidence

that womenAs interest in technical careers was discouraged.


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and hel"ed "ro8ect staff in the digging of trenches. Fowever* 9oth se>es made some financial contri9utions

towards the construction of the "ro8ect.

6.2.4 Devel of "artici"ation of men and women in "ro8ect im"lementation of ?S!

he results on the level of "artici"ation in "ro8ect im"lementation of ?S! indicate that most $&.'L# of the

res"ondents showed high "artici"ation during "ro8ect im"lementation a9le 3#. he "ro"ortion of men 63.1L#

who claimed to have shown high "artici"ation was more than that of the women grou" $H.$L# during "ro8ectim"lementation. < statistical test "erformed to esta9lish the significance of the differences* using the hi-s=uare

test of homogeneit* revealed no significant difference 9etween the level of "artici"ation of men and women

with hi-s=uare 2#

value of %.$' and " Q %.44. hus* it could 9e concluded that men and women in the eight

communities in


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significant difference 9etween the level of "artici"ation of men and women in decision-maing on "ro8ect

im"lementation in the management of ?S!. his means that* men and women in ?


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,. Policy Imlications

he findings that mem9ershi" of most men in ?


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for International +evelo"ment. an9erra* "law"df Ba H* 2%%

INS


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Bvula* . 1&&'#. ole of women in count water and sanitation su""l "ro8ects committee =uantitative re"ortO.

RA evelopment Report.-,4%#.

(nango* B. 2%%3#. $!allenges of weat!er and climate to African women' !a"er +elivered in the Second

onference on ?omen in Beteorolog and Fdrolog. Baseno 5niversit and +B /ena. etrieved from

htt"www.wmo.chwe9wmohwomendocsagenda.doc

("are* S. 2%%$#. Engaging women in communit decision-maing "rocesses in rural hana7 !ro9lems and"ros"ectsO* evelopment in Practice* 1%1#* &%-&&* alor C @rancis Dtd. on 9ehalf of (>fam ,* (nlineT


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Tables


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/igures

@igure 17 @orms of mem9ershi" to ?

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