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A CASE STUDY ON WOMEN'S ROLE IN WATER SUPPLY MANAGEMENT IN NEPAL |
Mr. Bashu Dev Pandey basupandey@yahoo.com |
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Abstract: Nepal has an extremely large variety of topography, 17% plain and 83% hill region which is ranging from lowland plains to the highest mountains in the world. About 73% populations have the safe drinking water supply. Percentage of population without access to safe drinking water in hill and mountain regions is over twice that (27-28%) of the Terai (lowland) 12%. More than 90% population live in rural area so that report focuses on the community water supply management where the most of the Nepalese women who are often the caregivers for those who fall ill, who have to fetch and manage water for both the family and productive purposes, and who have the greatest need for private and safe sanitation facilities. Because of their dependency on safe water, women have accumulated considerable knowledge about water resources, including location, quality, storage and management methods. Women compose 70% of the labor force in the water management schemes. Case study shows, governmental and institutions and civil society need to have a clear commitment to incorporate water and especially management explicitly into their. Development strategies and to ensure that a gender perspective and socially, economically and geographically oppressed and Indigenous people are mainstreamed into the water supply management. The report also shows policies that are necessary to improve the water supply management. Some suggested actions are given in the recommendation. Dangers of leaving women out of project design and management (Case from Nepal) An example from Nepal shows the unfortunate consequences of not taking into account gender needs in project planning. The intervention resulted in inadvertently increasing women’s burden. In all the communities involved in the Nepal research, women complained that their water collection time significantly increased (nearly four or five times) After they received the improved water services. This is because the tap stands and the tube wells are located along the roadside, where they cannot bathe freely and wash their clothes used during menstruation comfortably, or shame of being seen by males. In order to avoid this, women in Hile village in east Nepal. Carry water all the way to their homes several times each day, spending significant amounts of energy to do this. In three villages. Women reported waiting until dark to undertake these activities. All these women also complained that the surveyors had not involved them in designing the tap stands or tube wells themselves. Source: Shibesh Chandra Regmi and Ben Fawcett, “Integrating gender needs into drinking water projects in Nepal”, Gender and Development, vol. 7, No. 3 (1999), p. 2. Introduction: The country has an area of 147,181 square kilometers and is bordered by the two most populous countries of the world, China and India. It extends 885 kilometers from east to west and is non−uniform north to south both in dimension (average 193 kilometers) and in terms of terrain. Nepal is divided into 75 districts which are grouped into three Geographical and five development regions. Within each district there is village development Committees in rural areas and municipalities in urban areas. The number of households enumerated in the 2001 census was 4,253,220 spread over in more than 36 thousand wards. The population count stood at 23,151,423. The annual average precipitation in Nepal is 1,907 mm, with 80% of it falling during the monsoon season from June to September and fast flowing rivers are the major source of the water in Nepal. It is women who are often the caregivers for those who fall ill, who have to fetch and manage water for both the family and productive purposes, and who have the greatest need for private and safe sanitation facilities. Because of their dependency on safe water, women have accumulated Considerable knowledge about water resources, including location, quality, and storage methods. They are often the most motivated to ensure that water supply and sanitation facilities are in good order, as they know from experience the vital contribution that both water and sanitation make to their well-being. Indigenous (59 groups from UN report) people possess traditional knowledge and skills concerning the sensing/locating of water and protection of the source. Water sources on indigenous lands are often considered a sacred element, and indigenous women may be the holders of “water knowledge.” Their traditional land management skills often provide the most effective method of water resource management in their settlement areas. Objectives: 1. To highlight on Frameworks for gender analysis of water resources management. 2. To highlight the issue on Inclusion of socially, politically, economically excluded and oppressed from the development mainstream like women and indigenous people. 3. To focus in the role of political stability and decentralization on the management of water supply scheme. Present Status: In the past ten years, significant efforts have been made to improve access to water supply and these efforts meet to continue to achieve full coverage. The latest water supply coverage figures for rural and urban areas. Main source of water supply by households in Nepal
The choice of technology is usually dependent on the topography and water resources available. Options include;
Future Plan: Ensuring adequate water resources for all of the country’s various uses will become an increasingly urgent issue, especially with the added impacts of climate change population growth. According to the 20-Year Water Plan, Nepal aims to increase hydropower to 22,000 MW, expand irrigation to 90% of irrigable lands, and increase access for domestic water supplies to 100% of the population (Sharma, 2003). Current water availability is 215 km3, but this is only 26 km3 during the low flow season. The amount of water needed to achieve the goals of the 20-Year Water Plan is 60 km3 for hydropower and 28 km3 for other uses. Compulsory inclusion of 33% women in the water management. Problems and difficulties: The problems and constraints encountered in the management of water supply scheme are as; 1. Lack of involvement of women and indigenous people in decision-making steps. Situation is improving but pace is slow. 2. Illiteracy: Lack of awareness among community members. Most of the committee members are illiterate so it is time taking to mobilize and strengthen. 3. Political interference in planning, implementation and operation & maintenance. 4. Poor legislation to mobilize the resource for increasing access of safe water. 5. Lack of transparency among all stakeholders and accountability to have good management. 6. Lack of ownership feeling in community. 7. Lack of Monitoring and Evaluation from preliminary phase to post construction phase. Recommendations: 1. Gender mainstreaming: Leaving women out of the project design may result in inadvertently increasing the women’s burden. 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. Hence for every water supply scheme there should be equitable post in every step from planning to the management so as to have accountability and sustainable development and management 2. Recognition of Indigenous Knowledge: National agencies should support the active participation of indigenous people, especially women, in managing water resources and protecting watersheds. The unique contribution of indigenous women as the holders of water knowledge is crucial in protection of water sources in indigenous areas. Education and training for indigenous communities can develop their capacities to achieve sustainable self-development. 3. Develop capacity and encourage the engagement of the women in local level decision making processes. 4. Water should be treated as economic, social and environmental goods. 5. Water policies should focus on the management of water and not just the provision of water. 6. Governments should facilitate and enable the sustainable development of water resources, including a regulatory framework. Hence there is a need for decentralized political will to transform new concepts into action. 7. Water resources should be managed at the lowest appropriate local level. 8. There should be recognition that women play a central role in the provision, management and safeguarding of water. 10. The schemes should be selected based on participatory approach in all inclusive principle, which means that every household of a community needs to be represented during identification of the schemes at the pre-feasibility level. 11. The government should take maximum benefit from the local source (manpower, material).Resource mobilization like public fund, from general revenue, cross subsidization, user fees, and borrowing for water resources management. 12. Problem facing in Nepal is the monitoring and Evaluation from its preliminary phase to post construction phase. Hence Impact analysis should be carried out whether the project is operating as per the goal or deviate from that. Conclusion: It is concluded that the truly effective and sustainable development of the management, it is, first, crucial to mainstream gender perspectives into water resource management and sanitation policies to ensure that the specific needs and concerns of women and men from all social groups are taken into account. Second, it is vitally important to determine what people (consumers of water and sanitation) want, what they can and will contribute and how they will participate in making decisions on the types and levels of service, location of facilities and operation and maintenance. For reaching this second goal, it is indispensable to analyse a given target group from a gender perspective Reference: 1. A Gender Perspective in the Water Resources Management Sector: Handbook for Mainstreaming (Stockholm, Sida, 1997). ttp://www.sida. se/eng/bistand/warer/gender/general.htm 2.Mainstreaming Gender in Water Resources Management:Why and How, (Paris, World Water Council, 1999). 3.Practical Journey to Sustainability: A Resource Guide (New York, United Nations Development Programme, 2003).www.undp.org/water/genderguide 4.United Nations. 1997. Comprehensive assessment of the freshwater resources of the world. Commission on Sustainable Development. 5. UNEP Report_Case Studies 6. Prof. P. Quevauviller, Lecture Notes, Free University Brussels, Belgium 7. Clayton, A. (1999) Contracts or Partnerships: Working through local NGOs in Ghana and Nepal. London: WaterAid
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