1<\/span> Keep in mind: many women aren\u2019t cooking just for themselves. When women can\u2019t access clean water for cooking, the whole community suffers. <\/span><\/p>\nSecond, let\u2019s look at taking care of the home. According to the United Nations, in Bangladesh in 2004, national agencies set out to identify best practices for three responses to floods: (1) preparing for floods; (2) reducing risks; and (3) spreading information, particularly to women at home. Floods impacted men less because they left home for work, whereas women were at home.1<\/span> The agencies had found out that women often weren\u2019t getting flood warnings.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter the study, the national agencies decided to use several approaches: <\/span><\/p>\n\n- Posters <\/span><\/li>\n
- Flag systems <\/span><\/li>\n
- Drums<\/span><\/li>\n
- Broadcasts from mosques1 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These changes allowed access to information to women who couldn\u2019t read so they could organize and evacuate before a flood. These warning systems targeting women \u201cconsiderably improved preparedness during floods in 2004.\u201d1<\/span> In other words, when women know about floods, they prepare. <\/span><\/p>\nInclude Women in Water Decisions<\/h2>\n
For over 20 years, studies have shown that when <\/span>both<\/span><\/i> men and women are involved in water decisions, the results are better than when women aren\u2019t involved.7<\/span> That is to say, involving women in water decisions helps development efforts, sustains water sanitation, and helps sanitation campaigns. However, many sectors leave women out of education related to water and the decision-making process for water.1<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\nDespite being primarily responsible for providing water, women don\u2019t have access to opportunities to manage water on a large scale.1<\/span> Perhaps this results from a horrible cycle: girls spend so much time getting water, they quit school. Schools don\u2019t have toilets, so girls quit when they start menstruating: 23 percent of girls in India drop out of school when they start menstruating. How can they take advantage of water aid without an education? How can they continue education without access to water? \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAs of 2004, many plans for providing better access to safe, clean water in developing countries such as Pakistan focused on technology, and, by extension, on professional sectors led by men. These areas require a high level of education. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that in itself.1<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\nHowever, there is a gap between plans used and results. According to a World Bank study of 122 projects, water projects that included women proved 6 to 7 times more effective than projects that didn\u2019t.7<\/span> In short, those projects got more clean water. Because of this, more people enjoy a healthier life, can pursue education, and do activities that make money.1<\/span> It works better for all.<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, women account for less than 17 percent of the water, sanitation, and hygiene labor force in developing countries.7<\/span> Additionally, women make up only a small part of policymakers, regulators, management, and technical experts.7<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\nWhat You Can Do to Help<\/h2>\n
Making water services private doesn\u2019t help: it doesn\u2019t increase access to water for poor women.9<\/span> That is to say, here are four things that can help: <\/span><\/p>\n\n- Encourage women and girls to enter water sector jobs. <\/span><\/li>\n
- Tell your family, friends, and neighbors about these issues.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Donate to programs that include women in water management and decisions. <\/span><\/li>\n
- Donate to Save the Water<\/span>TM<\/span><\/span> to increase awareness about these issues. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
References<\/h2>\n\n- Inter-agency Task Force on Gender and Water, UN Water and the Interagency Network on Women and Gender Equality. June 2006. \u201cGender, Water, and Sanitation: A Policy Brief.\u201d <\/span>http:\/\/www.un.org\/waterforlifedecade\/pdf\/un_water_policy_brief_2_gender.pdf<\/span><\/li>\n
- Care. \u201cBringing Water to Families: Our water, sanitation and hygiene project in Zimbabwe.\u201d <\/span>https:\/\/www.care.org.au\/zimbabwe-water-sanitation-hygiene\/<\/span><\/li>\n
- Marnie Cunningham. November 17, 2017. \u201c4 Reasons Water & Sanitation Are a Gender Issue: Women are more at risk than men.\u201d <\/span>https:\/\/www.globalcitizen.org\/en\/content\/4-reasons-water-and-sanitation-are-a-gender-issue\/<\/span><\/li>\n
- Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, United Nations. October 3, 2011. \u201cWomen and girls and their right to sanitation.\u201d <\/span>https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/newsevents\/pages\/womenandgirlsrighttosanitation.aspx<\/span><\/li>\n
- Susan Watts. November 2004. \u201cWomen, Water Management, and Health.\u201d <\/span>Emerging Infectious Diseases, <\/span><\/i>10(11). <\/span>https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3328991\/<\/span><\/li>\n
- WebMD. \u201cSchistosomiasis.\u201d <\/span>https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/a-to-z-guides\/schistosomiasis#1<\/span><\/li>\n
- Kate Thompson, et al. January 23, 2017. \u201cThirsty for change: The untapped potential of women in urban water management.\u201d DeloitteInsights. <\/span>https:\/\/www2.deloitte.com\/insights\/us\/en\/deloitte-review\/issue-20\/women-in-water-management.html#endnote-sup-5<\/span><\/li>\n
- International Water Association. 2014. \u201cAn Avoidable Crisis: WASH Human Resource Capacity Gaps in 15 Developing Economies.\u201d <\/span>http:\/\/www.iwa-network.org\/<\/span>downloads<\/span>\/<\/span>1422745887<\/span>-an-avoidable-crisis-wash-gaps.pdf<\/span><\/li>\n
- Rebecca Brown. February 25, 2010. \u201cAbstract: Unequal burden: water privatisation and women’s human rights in Tanzania.\u201d <\/span>Journal of Gender and Development. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/13552071003600042?scroll=top&needAccess=true& <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Including women in water decisions results in more clean water for all. Access to enough clean water for personal and domestic use is a basic human right. You would think that caregivers, mainly women, who amplify the effects of water would get access to clean water. They don\u2019t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12812,"featured_media":115225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[267,554,593],"yst_prominent_words":[2572,1608,1418,987,2563,1406,613,1605,1610,693,687,1606,1802,1103,993,988,986,1604,994],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103635"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103635"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115227,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103635\/revisions\/115227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103635"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=103635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}