Water & Sanitation

Citation:

Boateng, J. D., and S. B. Kendie. 2015. “Factors Influencing the Participation of Women in Rural Water Supply Projects in the Asante Akim South District.” Journal of Arts and Social Sciences 3 (1): 220-42.

Authors: J. D. Boateng, S. B. Kendie

Abstract:

This article discusses factors influencing the participation of women in Asante Akim South District in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Using a multi-stage sampling technique, eight communities from four out of seven clustered circuits operating under Phase III of the Rural Water Supply Project (RWSP) were selected. Data were collected from 256 household respondents in the communities under study. Two factors were found to influence the participation of women in decision-making in RWSP project in the district. These were, male domineering and socio-cultural norms which inhibit women to participate actively in decision-making fora in the district. The study suggests that to ensure active participation of women in the district, there is the need to develop a gender awareness system whereby the different interests and knowledge of men and women are included in the design and management of water supply systems. Precisely, there is the need to promote the involvement and inclusion of all members of the community in such development projects.

Keywords: Gender, rural, water supply, water management, participation, community

Topics: Development, Environment, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana

Year: 2015

Citation:

Andajani-Sutjahjo, Sari, Siriporn Chirawatkul, & Erico Saito. 2015. “Gender and Water in Northeast Thailand: Inequalities and Women’s Realities.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 16 (2): 200–212.

Authors: Sari Andajani-Sutjahjo, Siriporn Chirawatkul, Erico Saito

Abstract:

The water world is socially constructed, reflecting continuous global gender inequalities and discrimination by those who hold dominant perspectives on water. While there is a strong global acknowledgement of the roles of women in water management by the United Nations International Water for Life Decade 2005-2015, discourses on gender mainstreaming in water management are still marginalised and under-theorised. The Millennium Development Goal-7 on environmental sustainability, addressing the need of more than one billion people for a significant improvement to accessing safe drinking water and basic sanitation, stagnated without a strong political will to include gender ideology in mainstream water perspectives. This qualitative study was conducted in a sub-urban community of Northeast Thailand in 2011, exploring the gendered roles, responsibilities, and inequalities of access to and control over village water resources. Results of this study illuminate the importance of taking into account the complexity of power and negotiation in local water structures within women’s social realities.

Keywords: Gender, water, Inequalities, water tensions, Northeast Thailand

Topics: Development, Environment, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Thailand

Year: 2015

Citation:

Mosse, Julia C. 1993. “Development at the Crossroads.” In Half the World, Half a Chance: An Introduction to Gender and Development, 140–51. Oxford, England: Oxfam.

Author: Julia C. Mosse

Topics: Conflict Prevention, Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Poverty, Environment, Gender, Women, Men, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Globalization, Health, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Rights, Sexual Violence

Year: 1993

Citation:

Carr, Marilyn, and Maria Hartl. 2010. Lightening the Load: Labour-Saving Technologies and Practices for Rural Women. Warwickshire, UK: International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Authors: Marilyn Carr, Maria Hartl

Topics: Agriculture, Economies, Environment, Gender, Women, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Households, Humanitarian Assistance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, International Organizations, Privatization, Rights

Year: 2010

Citation:

Zwarteveen, Margreet. 1995. Linking Women To The Main Canal: Gender and Irrigation Management. 54. London: International Institute for Environment and Development.

Author: Margreet Zwarteveen

Topics: Environment, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Rights, Women's Rights

Year: 1995

Citation:

Everett, Jana Matson, and Sue Ellen M. Charlton. 2014. “Debates and Dilemmas: Water.” In Women Navigating Globalization: Feminist Approaches to Development, 95–117. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Authors: Jana Matson Everett, Sue Ellen M. Charlton

Topics: Gender, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Privatization, Rights, Human Rights Regions: Africa, Southern Africa, Americas, South America Countries: Peru, South Africa

Year: 2014

Citation:

Enie, Rosemary Olive Mbone. 2009. “Through the Debris and Dryness in Liberia.” Women in Action (2): 16-20. 

Author: Rosemary Olive Mbone Enie

Abstract:

The article discusses the difficulties faced by women in Liberia brought about by climate change while still recovering from the civil wars. In Liberia, women are responsible for food production, water collection for drinking, sanitation and other household chores. Schools and water services were also affected by the civil wars, making it hard for children and women to resettle. The Society for Women Empowerment Education and Training (SWEET) Africa Foundation helps Liberian communities to ensure access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation. (Abstract from EBSCOhost).This article utilizes the story of Mama Jenneh Sambola, a farmer from the rural Than Mafa Village of the Matamo Community in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia to examine the present challenges facing the community regarding climate change. The Liberian civil wars destroyed basic infrastructure and common diseases are still prevalent. The Society for Women Empowerment Education and Training (SWEET) Africa Foundation works closely with Mama Jenneh and her community to ensure access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation. They later developed a community-based development agency with the goal of providing a platform for people-centered development, allowing for the community to take ownership of sustainable development initiatives with a strong emphasis on water projects. 

Annotation:

This article utilizes the story of Mama Jenneh Sambola, a farmer from the rural Than Mafa Village of the Matamo Community in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia to examine the present challenges facing the community regarding climate change. The Liberian civil wars destroyed basic infrastructure and common diseases are still prevalent. The Society for Women Empowerment Education and Training (SWEET) Africa Foundation works closely with Mama Jenneh and her community to ensure access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation. They later developed a community-based development agency with the goal of providing a platform for people-centered development, allowing for the community to take ownership of sustainable development initiatives with a strong emphasis on water projects.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Development, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Femininity/ies, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, NGOs, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2009

Citation:

Li, Fabiana. 2008. “Negotiating Livelihoods: Women, Mining and Water Resources in Peru.” Canadian Woman Studies 27 (1): 97–102.

Author: Fabiana Li

Annotation:

“In this article I want to critically examine the relationship between mining, water use, and women’s role. However, instead of starting from the assumption that women have a more direct affinity with Nature and a privileged role in the protection of water resources, I want to provide a nuanced account of women’s experiences with mining and the ways in which they are affected by and respond to mining activity. While recognizing that women play an important role in defending their resources and ways of life, I want to show that their response to mining activity is sometimes marked by ambivalence and contradiction. As they struggle to negotiate their means of livelihood, people’s relationships with the mining company oscillate between antagonism and cooperation” (Li, 2008, p. 96- 97).

Topics: Development, Economies, Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Peru

Year: 2008

Citation:

Bennett, Vivienne. 2009. The Politics of Water: Urban Protest, Gender, and Power in Monterrey, Mexico. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Author: Vivienne Bennett

Annotation:

"Vivienne Bennett has crafted an insightful study of the politics of water system management and development that offers insights into urban popular movements and protest, especially by women, and the politics of public policymaking in Mexico. Students of urban politics will appreciate this work's contribution to the literature on community power. Others will find Bennett's unraveling of the respective roles of the federal, state, and municipal governments in Mexico to be a significant addition to our understanding of the changing Mexican political regime. Yet others will find this book a solid, empirically-based analysis of the emergence and development of urban popular movements and the ways in which such movements can have consequences for public policy."

(WorldCat)

Topics: Civil Society, Class, Economies, Gender, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, NGOs, Political Participation, Privatization, Rights, Human Rights Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2009

Relevant Links: Digital edition

Citation:

Ferreira Jacques de Moraes, Andrea. 2015. “Advances and Setbacks in Women’s Participation in Water Management in Brazil.” In A Political Ecology of Women, Water and Global Environmental Change, edited by Stephanie Buechler and Anne-Marie S. Hanson, 77–96. New York: Routledge.

Author: Andrea Ferreira Jacques de Moraes

Annotation:

The author analyzes the paradox of the importance of women in water management and their lack of resources and power to manage water, and the political and developmental projects that reinforce such gendered dimensions. Women’s participation in water management in the Brazilian semi-arid region is analyzed in this chapter. The One Million Cisterns program is cited, along with women’s participation in the National Council of Water Resources and Watershed Committees. A feminist political ecology approach identifies the paradox listed above, while providing insight on possible solutions to the gendered limitations to water resource management. 

Topics: Development, Economies, Environment, Ethnicity, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Women, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Brazil

Year: 2015