Women, children bear brunt of fetching water

Lazarus Sauti

Most, if not all, societies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are experiencing water shortages due to uneven distribution of water resources as well as recurring droughts – sometimes followed by floods, raising fears of waterborne diseases that thrive in unhygienic conditions.

Besides diseases, citizens also spend more hours every year walking for water and this is stalling development in the region.

Officially opening the Water Resources and infrastructure Investment Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe recently, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa lamented the lack of access to clean potable water for the most vulnerable groups in the country.

He added that women and children bore the brunt of water shortages and endured walking long distances to get the precious commodity, which is unprotected and likely contaminated.

“Women and children walk long distances in search of water. This has seen people in urban areas going for days and even weeks without water and at times, relying on unsafe water sources,” Mnangagwa said.

Sharon Magodyo, community coordinator for the Harare Residents Trust (HRT) also says water shortages cause conflicts in households.

“There are cases of household conflicts due to water shortages. Most women are accused of infidelity by their husbands as they fetch water in the midnight,” she said.

Magodyo added: “Water shortages give young people, especially girls a chance to indulge in sexual activities. Remember, some parents send their children to fetch water in the evening and no one will be monitoring them.

“The end result of this situation, takes in unwanted pregnancies, early marriages as well as sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Sadly, as asserted by Magodyo, along their long walk, women and girls are subjected to a greater risk of harassment and sexual assault.

To protect women and girls as well as promote gender equality, VP Mnangagwa said the provision of water should be the priority for government sectors in the SADC region.

“Provision of water should remain a priority not only for the government of Zimbabwe, but also for other SADC member-states.

“Government sectors, development partners and investors simply need to come up with new plans, strategies as well as policies to solve water shortages without sacrificing women and girls,” he noted.

Magodyo believes ministries along with departments responsible for water and sanitation in Southern Africa should work with rural and urban councils as well as development partners to develop and implement systems that would ensure the delivery of affordable and safe piped water to all citizens.

“Improving gender equality, women’s livelihoods, the education and life chances of girl children as well as the health of families is critically dependent on making progress in water supply and sanitation.

“Strategies to address gender imbalances in the region must, therefore, properly consider and address water and sanitation linkages,” she said, adding that providing schools with water and latrines can greatly enable girls to get an education.

Magodyo also says women should be involved in the planning of water projects.

“Although women have the main responsibility for water provision in most countries in Southern Africa, they are often overlooked in the planning and implementation of infrastructure as well as water projects,” she affirmed.

Magodyo added that urban and rural authorities should ring-fence revenue from water accounts and use it to rehabilitate water and sanitation infrastructures as well as to procure water treatment chemicals if the region is to fee women and girls from the burden of fetching water.

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Saviour Kasukuwere, urges SADC countries to mobilise the necessary investments towards water infrastructure so as to develop water sources, a notion also supported by Magodyo who adds that “funding provides long term solutions to water shortages.

Further, Magodyo encourages concerned partners to mobilise funds to build water projects such as boreholes and community dams, but warns that corporate governance systems of both rural and urban councils should be strengthened to reduce mismanagement of financial resources,” he explained.

Access to safe and clean drinking water is a basic right and essential for achieving gender equality, sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

Accordingly, government sectors, development partners and concerned citizens must help women and girls to overcome the barriers they face by providing access to clean water in schools and villages across the SADC region.

In fact, Magodyo puts it clearly: “When women spend less time collecting water, they spend more time working on income-generating micro-entreprises, and girls are able to regularly attend school.

“This means with safe water nearby, women are free to pursue new opportunities as well as improve their families’ lives.”