Women’s role and participation in water management

To end this series of posts, it is imperative to understand the issues that are faced when it comes to female participation in water management and what can be done to address these injustices. 

Women remain underrepresented in water resource management from roles in government down to community level. Why? As mentioned in previous posts, a variety of multifaceted laws, policies, programs (or lack thereof) and customs have been instilled into many African societies, considerably hindering women and preventing female empowerment. In January 1992, over 500 NGOs agreed at the International Conference on Water and Environment that "women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water" but 30 years later gender equality is far from being reached when it comes to the provision of this resource in Africa, and men have most of the authority over decision-making. Women are often rejected, overlooked or forgotten and this should no longer be the case because women can lead the way in pushing forward more effective policy change. 

Female participation is essential 

Women in African households are more frequently the water managers and collectors as well as the growers of both irrigated and rain-fed crops. It is not therefore surprising that the majority of women are more knowledgeable about how to best utilise, store and manage water. The participations of all users and stakeholders must be made a priority so that effective management becomes commonplace. There is evidence stating that by ensuring that both men and women work together, project effectiveness is increase and the likelihood of sustainability is improved, according to a UNDP study examining over 40 water schemes in Africa and Asia. The problem is that many women do not realise the value they could provide and the benefits their acquired knowledge could bring to improving water management. These matters must be addressed and all voices should be listened to.  

Figure 1: Participants of the women in diplomacy network project (Ndjiki, 2017)

Case study: Ghana

In a study that began in 2011, Ghana was found to be a nation where women were generally restricted from participation in decision-making, not only in water management but at a societal scale. There have been attempts by the Ghanian government to increase female participation in water management, through schemes to increase levels of education, reduce illiteracy rates and shift cultural norms, however, this has mostly been effective because of cultural barriers, a lack of funding and other issues that are perceived to be more urgent by individuals in Ghana. Female engagement has unfortunately been resisted at most levels of society due to a male-dominated culture, where both men and women prevent female participation. 

Therefore, more conversations need to be had and legislation should be implemented that ensures women and all other stakeholders have an active role in water management. An environment where women can bring forward their opinions and ideas freely is a necessity. Only by ensuring this occurs can change be witnessed!