adminThe above scenario has become a common feature in most suburbs in Harare and its environs, where water woes have become a perennial problem, forcing people to fetch water from unprotected sources and boreholes.
In areas where they have got boreholes that were drilled with the assistance of local authorities and other organisations, it is not unusual to come across long meandering queues as early as 3am in the morning, at a time when most people will be sleeping.
Although water shortages have hit the nation in different places, it has also brought about a serious gender dimension. Because women are intrinsically linked to water because of their roles and responsibilities around the home, water shortages have undoubtedly put monumental pressures on the women who are traditionally responsible for their households’ water needs.
It now means that women are now under much more pressure than before to avail the resource and that alone is now making their socially acceptable domestic
chores, more difficult to handle than before.
Of course, with all things being equal, there is nothing wrong in seeing women going over domestic chores of the home, including cooking, washing, childcare and the general upkeep of the family.
Primarily, it is women who manage water in the household, it is women who tend to crops, and also have the main responsibility of raising children.
If anything, they will basically be fulfilling societal expectations and their routine duties and any woman, with strong African virtues and values, will never bate an eyelid over the issue, because these roles were traditionally associated with women. But within that context, lack of access to water has substantially increased the burden of their responsibilities, regardless of their financial status, something that calls for urgent attention.
While the necessary remedial situations are being put in place, it will also be equally important to note the role that women have been playing for years in harnessing and managing water resources across the country, and what they can do if given the necessary support.
I remember just after independence and being a little girl then, I would accompany my mother to a number of income-generating projects, to which she was a member in her rural home, in Chiweshe. The projects were mainly funded by a number of organisations among them, Jekesa Pfungwa/Vuli Inqondo to encourage entrepreneurship among women.
Since most of the projects heavily relied on water, like tie and dye, poultry, baking and permaculture, at all of those meetings and workshops, the women were taught how to harness water in different ways, albeit with minimum resources.
Some of the methods included roof harvesting, contour planting and recycling water at household level, something that I practically implement even now and I know a lot more women and even men can find it useful. Although the importance of women’s participation in water has been recognised over the years, they remain under-represented in the water industry.
Much remains to be done to give women an equal say in decisions about water, including location of water sources, rules of use and penalties for misuse, and the distribution of water among competing interests. Taking a cursory glance at figures, it is shocking to note that there are only 40 women ministers of water or environment across the globe, which has got a population of close to seven billion people and the majority of that populace is made up of women and children.
Although Zimbabwe is not far lagging behind in terms of women representation in all the vital sectors of the economy, we should start looking at long term solutions to address gender imbalances that currently exist and are informed by different situations.
Having more women involved in water management at either district or national level can boost their participation and involvement in issues surrounding this basic commodity. They can be part of the water and sanitation committees within their communities or similar initiatives at national level to deliberate on the issue. A situation closer to home is that of South Africa, Lesotho and Uganda who have women ministers for water and are taking specific actions to train women on water issues.
In South Africa, for instance they have since introduced “Women in Water” awards and a bursary for young women to take up careers in the water sector in South Africa, and these have also proved to be a successful means of empowering women. As nations move towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly MDG 3 and MDG7 aimed at promoting gender equality, empowering women while halving the proportion of people without access to clean water.
Climate change is playing havoc on natural resources, causing untold suffering to thousands of women across the world who rely on tilling the land, firewood for energy and other natural resources for their daily operations.
All these risks associated with climate change and more recently serious water shortages being felt at every household threaten to reinforce gender inequalities and even erode progress that has been made towards gender equality.
Online Reporter