Water, Gender and Development in Africa

Following seven posts, I would like to use this opportunity to reflect. This has been a challenging process as I have battled with different emotions, from confusion to anger to disgust. Blogs regarding access to toilets, menstruation, and gender-based violence were particularly hard to research and write as I felt a sense of helplessness as I discussed the impacts and issues but did little regarding recommending or finding a solution. As I mentioned in my introductory post, this blog was not able to cover everything, and the scope limited the stakeholders I could discuss. I would also like to explore the issue of gender bias data, as this is an important part of the reason why solutions may fail. Should you wish to explore this further, I recommend you read ' Invisible Women ’ and Pouramin et al . I have sought to remain conscious of my positionality as a white female living in the UK and remain aware of the warning given by Binyavanga Wainaina . Although I have tried to give

What can we do about the issues that women face when it comes to water and sanitation? Participation, collaboration, inclusion, and communication! Women have often been excluded from decision-making processes at different levels of society . Restrictions to participation include many of those discussed in previous blogs, including gender roles, land rights, and time poverty . I have also illustrated the important role that women play in relation to water, from collecting it to managing it, yet they are deemed the least important due to social norms, law, and policy bias . The male position in society is assumed to be one of monetary and societal power, in which authority is automatically awarded and assumed. They are “ allocated non-domestic duties such as decision-making, breadwinning and others, all of which belong to the public sector .” This in turn leads to women being dismissed, ignored , or forgotten as they are not assumed to be part of the discussion around water issues and