Challenging attitudes - a case study

Changing attitudes is a fundamental component of changing the status quo in any context. In this case, this means changing attitudes about the roles that both men and women have in providing water supplies in Africa, and as such this does not just refer to the roles of water collection, but wider decision-making and allocation of resources within the household.

Following this week’s lecture on community-based water resource management, it seemed logical to explore an example of this with a gendered perspective.

I found an example of water management in Manzire Village, Zimbabwe, which since 2003 has received funding from UNICEF for gender-focused rehabilitation of water management. This example portrays how initial male resistance to women being trained in water management was overcome when it became clear that women were potential agents of change and improvement in their own water supplies. With skill specific training focused on women, men started to ensure that jobs traditionally left to women (such as caring for children) were covered when women were undergoing training.

However, despite the short-term help from the males in the household, problems remained with women enduring increased workloads: maintaining the village water supply was undertaken in addition to traditional domestic tasks. This was solved by input from UNICEF and the Rural District Council, which actively encouraged men to get involved with domestic chores and take on some water management responsibilities.  

This example of gender mainstreaming highlights the importance of recognising and adjusting both men and women’s roles in society when bringing about change – attitudes of both genders needs to be challenged. The Manzire Village case study provides an example where UNICEF, local government and individuals interacted to bring about gender mainstreaming in water management. However, it is important to note that this has not entirely solved water issues in the area: poverty remains a key hindrance to further improving water supplies. As a result, gender mainstreaming ought to be considered as one of many strategies to improving water access; alone it achieves very little, but alongside other development efforts it can contribute greatly to better access and a more equitable society.

Mobilising resources

While female empowerment has the potential to offer new ideas and perspectives to water management, a lack of financial resources is often a key limitation on achieving change (UN, 2006). Though funding for such projects is offered by external financial actors, such as charity donors, these are insufficient to solve the entirety of the water issues in Africa. This means that there is a reliance on public funds, for example raised through taxation, borrowing and cross subsidisation, to support water and sanitation needs. As such, governments remain central to water management.

A particularly interesting example here is the Mabule Sanitation Project in South Africa (Poku Sam, 2006). This project, funded by the Mvula Trust, is led by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) of South Africa, with focus on community engagement. In order to stimulate female participation, the DWAF offers extra funding to communities where there is improved gender equality in decision-making. In the Mabule village, this manifested in a brick-making programme, in which the majority of employees were female, the produce of which was used to build toilets. As a result, not only did the village experience improved sanitation from the latrines, but there was also an increasing acceptance of women in leadership rolesx, as well as better collaboration between men and women in the working environment.

Women at the top: female-managed water projects

While some of the literature examined in this blog dates back across the last 20 years, this article provides a current example of an integrated water management project: the designation of two or three dams to be built in South Africa by solely women-owned companies. Of course, because the project has only just begun, we are unable to evaluate its sustainability. However, what is clear from this article is that women’s role in water access is being recognised on political agendas.

Yet one must ask the question, is this approach to water management projects the answer? Surely we should aspire to integrate men and women in water management at all levels, not just company ownership, as is the natural future path for sustainable water management in Africa. As such, perhaps this is more a project to prove a point and change attitudes about the role of women in water management, rather than fundamentally shaking up the male dominated water sector.