Pani Pe Charcha Kariyo, Behna…

 

 

Pani pe charcha kariyo
Teen saal sukha padi hai
Sarpanch ke dware dharo Tanker
Teen-teen gagran se pani bhare
Humne bharo, bitiyan ne bhare
Pani pe charcha kariyo...

This song, sung in the local language of Bundelkhand, describes the plight of women in this drought-hit region in central India.
According to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the global advocate for equality between women and men, women are increasingly being recognised as key actors in the conservation and safeguarding of natural resources - acting as managers, producers, users and intermediaries - between the natural environment and the society.

At least half of the world’s food is grown by women farmers (FAO, 2000). Easier access to fresh water will go a long way to improve the living conditions for girls who generally drop out of school and start working in the fields and fetch water from a very young age. Lack of access to water is an obstacle to their right to formal education. Yet, the considerable knowledge that these women possess on water resources - quality, reliability, and storage methods - is too often not taken into account by decision makers who continue to ignore that this hidden cachet of knowledge is one of the major keys to the success of water resources development and irrigation projects.

Water and Health

According to the WHO, over one in every ten children dies annually in developing countries before the age of five as a result of health-related complications. The major cause of death is diarrhoea. The disadvantageous position of children and women is particularly relevant in countries where women’s opportunities are limited (WHO, 1996). Safe water and basic sanitation are the major determinants of health and, as such, of development. WHO has pointed out that women’s health and well being exert an important influence on their children, families and community health and development, and generally, on the society as a whole. Ill health and malnutrition in one female generation carries the risk of generating ill health among the next generation.

When children or other family members fall ill due to water-borne or water-related diseases, the women have to care for the ill, thus having less time to care for the other family members, to support their children’s schooling, to work in the fields and carry out other activities (Rodda, 1991).

Women’s Role as Water Managers

The Final Report of the International Consultation to Advance Women in Ecosystem Management states that: ‘There is a natural convergence of interest between the needs of women and the need to conserve natural resources environments. Women maintain a rich storehouse of technical environmental knowledge, which can be mobilised in the problem-solving process. In addition to their profound knowledge of fragile ecosystem management and sustainable resource use, women have a remarkable ability to work together. Women also have a powerful influence over the future attitude towards the environment’ (International Consultation, 1993). Women also have an important role to play in promoting a new attitude towards the use of water resources, based not only on technical knowledge, but also on cultural and ethical values. This new attitude will contribute to build a better and more peaceful world, provided it includes a mutual exchange of gender-specific knowledge, skills and sharing of opportunities in order to improve and manage our limited freshwater resources in the future.

India: Women and the Right to Water

A report prepared jointly by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says that India will become a ‘water-stressed’ nation by 2017. This signifies that India will face acute water shortages for prolonged periods. There is also the risk of water pollution. Cities which generate 2,000 crore litres of sewage a day, treat only 10 per cent of this; the rest flows out to merge with groundwater, or even surface water - sources. The report cautions that as a result, the incidence of water-related deaths and diseases might go up. The poor in rural and urban areas, particularly women and children, will continue to be hard hit by these emerging problems.

Most women and girl children in semi-arid rural India have to trudge barefoot in the hot sun for hours over wastelands, across thorny fields, or rough terrain in search of water. Often, the colour of the water is muddy and brackish, but it is still welcome for the parched throats back home. On an average, a rural woman walks 14,000 km a year just to fetch water. Their urban sisters are only slightly better off - they do not walk such distances but stand in long-winding queues for hours on end to collect water from the roadside taps or water tankers.

‘Yet the National Water Policy does not recognise women’s role. It is inequitable and has effectively moved away from considering water as a social good to an economic good. Consequently, it has reinforced the intrinsic link between land and water rights. This is a total denial of women’s right to water,’ said Dr Sara Ahmed, an Ahmedabad-based expert on gender and water. Most of the water problems existing today are a result of the exclusion of women in the water management issues. The water user association concept itself is still in the nascent stage in the country, so the condition of women and their role in water management can be understood.

The gender inequality prevailing in India as a social problem is also playing its own part in the failure of water management at various levels. There is very little participation of women in water user associations and of what little there is, the dominance of male gender undermines the role of women.

Women, in the real sense, are the water managers of each of our households. They stand in long queues, collect the water, store it, use it to the last drop and know the value of each drop of water much better than men. But are they legitimately playing this role outside their households? The answer is no.

Probably, it is time to create exclusive, women-only water user associations at each block, village level and locality in urban areas. A group of women from each locality, deliberating upon water issues and making recommendations, will considerably improve the situation of water management in both rural and urban areas.

Some Successful Initiatives

In March 2006 Uks, in collaboration with Panos, Kathmandu produced a series of 10 radio programmes of 15-minute duration each. Based on issues of and around water and women, these programmes highlighted many critical areas and explored the ways to mainstream gender in water issues as well as promote gender equity. Issues covered in this particular series included water and migration, water and women’s employment, migration, water and the workload of women, hygiene, health, especially unsafe drinking water, and water-related natural disasters.

Development Alternatives has set up Samagra Jal Vikas Samiti (SJVS) in the project villages to demonstrate effective management of water resources under the programme ‘Water for All and Always’. A unique feature was the training of the community on water quality monitoring, and giving the women and young boys and girls the responsibility of regularly monitoring the drinking water in the village. This was done with the purpose to make the community aware of the importance of quality water as also make them self sufficient for the overall management of the water resources.

Dr K. Vijaya Lakshmi, Development Alternatives, was conferred with the National Award for Women’s Development through Application of Science and Technology for her outstanding contribution to solving environmental problems of the village communities, especially the women, by addressing issues concerning safe drinking water by developing a simple and easy to use field testing kit and community water filter, the Jal-TARA water testing Kit and Jal-TARA water Filter. This unique initiative involving women self help groups in Bundelkhand region helps to provide clean and safe water for the community. Dr Vijaya Lakshmi’s efforts have considerably reduced morbidity through water-borne diseases in this region.

Modern science and technology have widely contributed to alleviate a number of difficulties related to the great diversity characterising the geographical distribution of freshwater resources throughout the world. Yet, there is need to develop ethical and normative values and legal tools to overcome the disparities in water access related to gender, especially in developing regions where women are particularly exposed to serious health risks.
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Usha Shrinivasan
ushrinivasan@devalt.org

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