World now is in water crisis. United Nations (UN) has shown
unbelievable facts regarding to water shortage around the world. Every year,
2.2 million people die because of unsafe drinking water. By 2025, sixty six
percent of world population will suffer from water shortage. Collectively,
women in developing countries have to deal with this water crisis by collecting
water up to eight hours a day to ensure their household can survive.
Water now becomes
a commodity. Many big companies emerge as capitalists that only think of
profit. Government itself has no control on water supply which is owned by
private party. Access to water is restricted to those who have more power in
terms of gender, social class, economical class, and ethnicity. As a result,
poor people especially those who live in rural areas, no matter in Third World
or First World countries, are significantly affected.
Limited access to
water is common problem in dried-countries such as African countries. In
Tanzania especially, women of rural areas have to walk all the way for an hour to
other villages just to fetch water every morning to fulfill their family’s need
of water. The water they get is not clear with brown color and the quality is far
from the standard quality of fresh water, though. The water is usually used for
cooking, cleaning, and of course drinking. This situation causes new problems
when many diseases related to digestive system and waterborne diseases appear.
The situation will be worse when dry season which there will no water at all in
the village or the other villages nearby.
Despite the fact
that water is very limited and needed by most people in the villages of
Tanzania, conflicts to defend the water from being taken always happen. A group
of people in a village which has water resource tries to protect the water so
that people from other villages cannot take the water. It seems that water resources
become a private or group property and no more become public amenity. This
circumstance even can cause a war among the people.
Not only in rural
areas, even in the urban areas, water shortage is common problem too. Again,
women are the ones whom always have to fetch water from water tanks nearby that
are provided by water sanitation companies. Definitely, they have to pay some
amount of money to get the water. Other than women, children, especially girls,
also have to fetch water to help their parents. As the consequence, they do not
have time to go to schools, to play among themselves, or to do activities for
the development of their communities. In addition, they do not have time to
empower themselves so that they maintain subordinate in society.
This problem is
very serious and the people have asked for government concerns. Yet, the local
government fails to overcome it. The practice of corruption has become a reason
why the government people simply ignore the voice of the people. They prefer
big companies to handle the problem and fulfill people demand of water so that
they get their “pockets”. Meanwhile, the companies can gain big profit.
It seems the
government does not know or does not want to know that water shortage has
impacts on gender relation. Basically, women are the ones who get the worse
impacts because they almost never have control to water. Thus it motivates
women to fight for better quality of water. They then involve in water
management even though it is in grass root level. They voice the concerns out
in public. Yet, the government does not even listen to them.
In India, water
for agriculture is more important than water for drinking. It is proven by the
effort of the local government of India to build a dam near a river by
displacing so many people. It affects the lives of the people who depend so
much on the water from the river. Women who live there could not be only
silent. They lead a movement to regain their control on the water again. It
seems the movement goes better when the women are in the front line. The way
they see the issue is different from the way men do. They tend to make the
movement successful because they have closeness to families and community so
that they understand the problem quite well and know how to deal with. Most
importantly, they will not stop until their demands are fulfilled.
According to Biraj
Swain from Wateraid India, the movement the women do is just a kind of silent
revolution. It is so because they are not in decision making level. Besides,
they just fight for water supply but forget to fight for better quality of
water. However, Marcia Brewster from Gender and Water Alliance says it is not a
silent movement since there are some of woman leaders are in positions of
policy and decision making level. In Africa for instance, the Minister State of
Uganda, Maria Gambao, is appointed as the chairperson of African Ministry
Chancellor on Water. She makes sure of fair distribution of water in African
countries. She even goes down with the people to fetch water. She encourages
more women to involve in water management.
Access to water is
actually an investment to community and future. Brewster outlines that access
to water gives empowerment to women. With better access to good quality of
water women will have more time to themselves. The girls especially, will have
time for education and their development. In addition, the cost estimated to
meet Millennium Development Goals in terms of water sanitation is only USD11.3
billion per year and it is nothing compared to spending on military.
Water is such a
basic need for human-beings. However water is no longer public amenity. Water
is becoming commodity which gives benefit only for the elite people. The poor,
especially women, have no control on it. Therefore they are neglected to have
access to it. Water supply is not only the issue here. The water management is also
crucial to provide safe water for all humankind. Yet, the control on water
management is never a woman. In short, women are the ones who suffer from water
shortage.
*pic from womenandclimatechange
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