My final post

In my final blog I will be looking at the women run water centers in Nigeria, this program helps women gain independence and an income whist supplying their families and village with safe drinking water. This scheme has been created in response to the UN’s (United Nation) Sustainable Development Goal of clean water and sanitation for all. These water centers are known as Sunlight Water Centers, they have been formed by a TechnoServe and Unilever partnership to bring affordable and safe water to the Nigerian rural public. Women have been the key focus of this scheme, as they choose, hire and train women to run the local water centers. This encourages the women to be local entrepreneurs and work as they have spare time since they no longer have to travel vast distances to collect water.

The program has an acceptance process as the women have to be nominated, often by the head of their village, and then they undergo an interview process. This is all worth it as they receive training in record keeping and financial management schemes. This support is very important as many women feel alone when starting up a new business, this training and support will give the women the encouragement and confidence they need to succeed.  Alongside selling water the women are encouraged to sell other products, such as toiletries and food; these will increase the profits and give the women’s business as boost. Although only a handful of women are actually running the centers the other women of the village gain from this scheme, as they are no longer spending  long amounts of time collecting water, they can gain employment or education with this new time they have. TechnoServe and Unilever aim to open up 1,000 more water centers which will bring safe water to 500,000 more people. This will be 1,000 more women running their own businesses from this program and many others benefiting from this.

A woman called Charity Dangana is among the chosen women to run their own water centers, she has expressed the development in her social status in her village. As people now regard her as an entrepreneur they have more respect and admiration for her, this will encourage other girls and women to further their education or careers.

Unilever works with other NGO’s (Non Governmental Organisations), including Oxfam and WaterAid to supply the rest of the world with water. They understand the importance of the relationship between women and water and how it needs to be changed for the better.

Whilst conducting research over the weeks for my blogs my eyes have been open to the numerous problems that women face with water and the many people and organisations trying to help bridge the gap of gender inequality in regards to water. It was especially eye opening to see the problems regarding toilets and sanitation that women have to face, something that I have taken for granted my whole life has been a lifelong problem for many women not only in Africa but in other parts of the world. Not being able to finish school or go to work simply because of the toilet and sanitation issues is what is holding many girls and women back, making them financially dependent on the males in their family. However, even when women do work they often have gendered problems regarding water. As female farmers have been victim to receiving irrigable plots that is often half the size of men’s plots. Men also have better success to groundwater irrigation, leaving the women to use other means of irrigation which are often not as sustainable and accessible. This inequality has been seen and some are doing something to eradicate the inequality, in Nyandusi in Kenya, women are given priority allocation of land. With the help of modern technology and social media these inequalities are being seen on a global scale and are drawing global support. This often comes from things such as World Toilet Day which was created by the UN to raise awareness of sanitation. The use of modern technology in water supply is also pivotal in the lives of women. This is seen in eWATER, where they use new technology, such as the cloud and contactless scanners in order to supply villages with clean, accessible and affordable water supply, while maintaining the water source.

References:

(2016). WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES PROVIDE CLEAN WATER IN NIGERIA. Available: http://www.technoserve.org/blog/women-owned-businesses-provide-clean-water-in-nigeria. Last accessed 31st Dec 2017.

Povel S. A. M. T. (1990). “Participatory development of a Women’s Irrigation Scheme case: The Nyandusi Women Horticultural Scheme Nyanza Province, Kenya,” Contribution to the International Workshop “Design for Sustainable Farmer Managed Irrigation Schemes in Sub-Saharan Africa” Department of Irrigation and Soil and Water Conservation Wageningen Agricultural University

Smart solutions for a water-scarce future. Available: https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/reducing-environmental-impact/water-use/smart-solutions-for-a-water-scarce-future/. Last accessed 31st Dec 2017.