Role of Gender in Water & Sanitation in in Rural Pakistan

Mr. Sabir Farhat, Secretary General, Pakistan Rural Workers Social Welfare Organization

(PRWSWO)

The importance of involving both women and men in the management of water and sanitation has been recognized at the global level, starting from the 1977 United Nations Water Conference at Mar del Plata, the International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade (1981-90) and the International Conference on Water and the Environment in Dublin (January 1992), which explicitly recognizes the central role of women in the provision, management and safeguarding of water & sanitation

Equitable access to water for productive use can empower women and address the root causes of poverty and gender inequality. However, lack of access (ownership) to land may be the underlying cause of women’s limited access to water and a key reason for the greater poverty of female-headed households in Pakistan. Land ownership is a precondition for access to water. Shockingly, women hold title to less than 2 per cent of the world’s private land. Moreover, even where women do have a legal right to land, customs often prevent them from taking de facto control of land and natural resources.

In Pakistan, food security is often dependent on women’s subsistence production to feed the population. Evidence shows that women are responsible for half of the world’s food production (as opposed to cash crops) and in most developing countries, rural women produce between 60–80 per cent of the food. Women also have an important role in establishing sustainable use of resources and their knowledge is valuable for managing and protecting watersheds and wetlands.

The real problem faced by many female farmers, however, is that they have very little or no access to irrigation water for agricultural purposes and are entirely dependent on rainfall. Therefore, it is crucial to accord to women recognition as land holders and contributors to the development process. Responding to the needs of poor farmers requires a detailed understanding of men’s and women’s local knowledge systems, resource utilization and income generating opportunities.

In Pakistan, only 63 percent of the population has access to drinking water while sanitation facility is available to 65 percent of the population. Most of the population having access to safe drinking water and sanitation is living in urban areas and situation in rural areas is very dismal, hence they suffer from water and sanitation borne diseases. Mortality rate for Children under the age of 5 in Pakistan is 94 deaths per 1000 children. Diarrheal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation situation are the main cause of mortality for children under the age of five. Each year, more than 0.3 million people in Pakistan die from preventable diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene

About 50 percent of the people of the rural areas have no access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation. There is no system of solid waste management in rural areas and most schools do not have any or have very poor latrine facility which is the major cause of school dropout rates especially for the female students. Most of the schools located in rural areas do not have a system of solid waste management. A majority of the population, especially the rural population, has limited knowledge about importance of clean environment and personal and household level hygiene and as a result rural population especially women and children in KPK are facing sever health consequences.

Access to potable water and proper sanitation facilities is a great challenge for Pakistan in the current century. Surface and ground water pollution is a major environmental concern posing serious threat to human development. The costs related to unsafe water and poor sanitation are huge and could hamper long term economic growth. Pakistan under Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7 on environmental sustainability, have committed to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basics.

The Government of Pakistan also devised a National Sanitation Policy, a draft policy document prepared in March 2006 outlines the broader context and objectives of the policy to support provincial and district governments in preparing their sanitation strategies and plans. The National Sanitation Policy recognizes the poor coverage of sanitation in the country, especially in rural areas and inadequate government spending on water and sanitation which is 0.10% of GDP in year 2004-5.

The broader policy objective focuses on improvement of quality of life and physical environment with the sub-objectives of safe disposal of solid and liquid waste, promotion of health and hygiene practices and to link sanitation programs with environment, housing, water and city and regional planning policies.

Policy Principles:

• Mobilization of local resources and accept and support the role that

communities, NGOs, formal and informal sector are playing in sanitation provision

• Develop and use cost effective technologies • Health is a fundamental human right and health targets cannot be

achieved without sanitation. Therefore, this policy considers sanitation to be a fundamental human right

• There will be an equitable distribution of resources between the

richer and poorer sections of human settlements.

The Policy identifies minimum sanitation options which include flush latrines/ or pour flush latrines in homes for urban areas and high density rural settlement connected to an underground sewage system terminating in a sewage treatment facility. Similarly at in serviced urban areas and low density rural settlements minimum options are ventilated pit privies/ pour flush latrines connected to a septic tank linked to a waste water disposal and/ or collection system. The policy follows the targets set in Medium. Term Development Framework (2005-10);which result in the extension of present coverage from 42% to 50% of the population by 2010.anitation.

The social and environmental health costs of ignoring the need to address sanitation (including hygiene and wastewater collection and treatment) are far too great. A focus on gender differences is of particular importance with regard to sanitation initiatives, and gender-balanced approaches are encouraged in plans and structures for implementation. Simple measures, such as providing schools with water and latrines, and promoting hygiene education in the classroom, can enable girls to get an education, especially after they reach puberty, and reduce health-related risks for all. Moreover, the design and the location of latrines close to home may reduce violence against women, which may occur when women have to relieve themselves in the open after nightfall.

THANK YOU