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Journal of Environment and Earth Science www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3216 !a"er# ISSN 222$-%&4' (nline#
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Gender and Water Management Practices in Ghana
Juliette +. ,oateng1
. /. ,rown* and E. 0. enorang2
1.
entral egional Education (ffice* hana Education Service* a"e oast* hana2. Institute of +evelo"ment Studies* 5niversit of a"e oast* a"e oast* hana
Email of the corres"onding author78uliette.9oateng6:gmail.com;
Abstract
his article discusses gender and water management "ractices in the
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Journal of Environment and Earth Science www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3216 !a"er# ISSN 222$-%&4' (nline#
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"artici"ation in all decision-maing "rocesses of all concerned* "articularl indigenous "eo"le in rural areas and
women )erhasselt* 1&&'; ?orld ,an* 1&&3#. he +u9lin onference* for instance* gave rise to four "rinci"les
that have 9een the 9asis for much of the su9se=uent water sector reforms on water management. hese "rinci"les
introduced a new a""roach nown as the Integrated ?ater esources Banagement I?B# which* among other
things* acnowledges fresh water as a finite and vulnera9le resource and the central role women "la in its
"rovision and management ?!* 2%%$#. ists ver little evidence of
e>"licit attem"ts at increasing or im"roving the involvement of women Sher"a* 2%%4# in water management
initiatives. his is 9ecause the channels through which water su""lies are 9eing managed* and socio-economic
norms which are 9eing em"hasised* in fact* tend to weaen and reinforce une=ual "artici"ation in technical
training "rogrammes* decision-maing "rocesses* and womenAs "osition in water management and usersA
committees
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9oth as actors in and "otential 9eneficiaries of such develo"ment "rocesses. Since 1&$%* there have 9een a
num9er of definitions and a""roaches that have guided "rograms for women in develo"ing countries Sigenu*
2%%6#. hese a""roaches were useful in understanding the different "ers"ectives taen 9 donors and
governments in creating and im"lementing interventions and develo"ment activities whose "ur"ose was to assist
women.
,ased on the wor of Bolneu> 1&'$#* Boser 1&&4# argues that* 9ecause women and men have different"ositions within the household and different control over resources* the do not onl "la different changing roles
in societ 9ut also often have different needs. She reiterates that women t"icall tae on three t"es of roles in
terms of their "aid and un"aid la9our. hese tri"le roles are7
re"roductive involves care and maintenance of the household and all its mem9ers#;
"roductive involves "roduction of goods and services for consum"tion and trade or wor done for
"ament in cash or ind#; and
communit-9ased involves organisation and management of communit* events* services and
"olitics through wages or increases in status and "ower#.
?ith regard to needs* Boser 1&&4# distinguishes 9etween Strategic ender Needs SNs# and !ractical ender
Needs !Ns#. Strategic ender Needs are the needs women identif to overcome their su9ordinate "osition to
men in their societ. he relate to divisions of la9our* "ower and control and ma include such issues as
alleviation of the 9urden of domestic la9our and childcare; freedom of choice; and measures against male violenceand control over women Bolneu> as cited in Boser* 1&&4#. Beeting such needs do not onl hel" women to
achieve greater e=ualit it also changes e>isting roles and* therefore* challenges their su9ordinate "ositions. Such
needs var according to the economic* "olitical* social and cultural conte>t Boser* 1&&4#. Some actions that
address Strategic ender Needs are7
im"roving education o""ortunities* e.g. adult literac classes* female teachers "rovided as role
models and gender-aware te>t9oos;
im"roving access to "roductive assets* e.g. legal status on land ownershi"* rights to common
"ro"ert and 9an accounts;
ena9ling women to tae "art in decision-maing* e.g. "artici"ation in elections* re"resentation at
the local* regional and national levels* and esta9lishing and su""orting womenAs grou"s; and
"romoting e=ual o""ortunities for em"loment* e.g. e=ual "a for com"ara9le 8o9s even if there is
a gender division of la9our# and increasing womenAs access to 8o9s traditionall done 9 men.
!ractical ender Needs* !Ns* in contrast* are needs women identif in their sociall acce"ted roles in societ.
(ften* these needs are related to their roles as mothers* homemaers and "roviders of 9asic needs. he do not
challenge the gender divisions of la9our or womenAs su9ordinate "osition in societ* although rising out of them.
!ractical gender needs are usuall a res"onse to an immediate "erceived necessit which is identified 9 women
within a s"ecific conte>t. he are "ractical in nature and are often concerned with inade=uacies in living
conditions* such as water "rovision* health care* and em"loment. 5nlie the strategic needs* "ractical needs are
formulated directl 9 women in these "ositions* rather than through e>ternal interventions. has
stated* the do not generall entail a strategic goal* such as womenAs emanci"ation or gender e=ualit... nor do
the challenge the "revailing forms of su9ordination even though the arise directl out of themA Boser* 1&&4*
".4%#. he arise as needs for women out of their im"overished situation. !ro8ects can meet the "ractical gender
needs of 9oth men and women without necessaril changing their relative "ositions in societ. E>am"les of
actions that address "ractical gender needs are7
reducing womenAs worload* e.g. location of stand-"i"es and hand-"um"s* "roviding grinding millsand develo"ing fuel-efficient stoves;
im"roving health* e.g. "rimar health centres* clean water su""l and child s"acingfamil "lanning
advice;
im"roving services* e.g. "rimar schools* housing infrastructure and trans"ort facilities;
increasing income* e.g. sills training* credit initiatives and access to marets.
oates 1&& maintains that "ractical and strategic needs cannot 9e neatl se"arated. Fe "oints out that ever
"ractical intervention has an effect on strategic areas of life "ower relations and control#* whether it is intended
or not Barch* Smth C Buho"adha* 1&&. Fowever* in assessing BoserAs gender roles and needs*
Shahrashou9 and Biller 1&&$# "oint out that the focus on needs could not onl mae "lanning to"-down* 9ut
also ma create "assive 9eneficiaries. he need to 9ring the interests of women into national develo"ment
"ro8ects have slowl cre"t onto the agenda of national and international develo"ment agencies with various
efforts and a""roaches 9eing made to involve women in man develo"ment activities. he first ma8or a""roachto this agenda was ?omen in +evelo"ment ?I+#* a term coined 9 a ?ashington-9ased networ of female
develo"ment "rofessionals in the earl 1&H%s. ?I+ recognised women as an unta""ed resource that can "rovide
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economic contri9ution to develo"ment* if integrated into the "rocess iner* 1&&%#. hus* for a more efficient
and effective develo"ment* the active "artici"ation of women is crucial Boser* 1&&4#. Boser 1&&4# identified
five main strategies that are lined to the ?I+ a""roach in meeting womenGs needs7 welfare* e=uit* "overt*
efficienc and em"owerment. he welfare strateg was "redominant during the "eriod 1&$%-1&H%* although it
was su9se=uentl used 9 various agencies* including 5S
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I 1&&2# o9serves that womenGs "artici"ation is limited to some women 9eing invited to meetings to 9e
nominal mem9ers of water committees 9 "ro8ect officials in consultation with local men or the local N(* or*
at the most* to tae demanding and often tedious roles.
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aged 1' ears and a9ove* who had staed in the communit for at least two ears* formed the sam"ling unit for
the selection. In all 2$6 household res"ondents mean age of 41.'* with a standard deviation of 14.$ ears
he "ur"osive sam"ling techni=ue was em"loed in the selection of females ?
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?"lained* gave them a low level of ver9al "artici"ation in decision-maing* des"ite their res"onsi9ilities aswater managers. Such a low level of "artici"ation was* thus* an indicator of "ro8ect failure as women on the
committees ma not 9e a9le to influence decisions much +uncer* 2%%1#.
"ressed interests to attend training "rogrammes for "um" mechanics* the never heard anthing a9out it again.
he views e>"ressed 9 these women su""orted the assertion 9 Behra and Esim 1&&'# and Sands 2%%$# that
there was a gender divide in silled and unsilled wors in ?S! management. he argued that while men
normall "artici"ated in silled 8o9s* such as "um" mechanics* women onl assumed res"onsi9ilit for unsilled
tass* such as "um" site cleaners. Fowever* a 46-ear old woman during the @+ at /waururom "ointed out
=uicl that the a""ointment of women as "um" cleaners* whose role was to see to the cleanliness of the "um"
site* was in the right direction. ?hen ased wh* she =uicl res"onded that7
the "um" sites managed 9 females were cleaner than those managed 9 men. hus* one isforced to remove hisher sandals* when visiting the female "um" sites for water
his also meant that issues of hgiene education and awareness creation to the communit were mostl carried
out 9 women who mostl served as hgiene officers. ?ith men as "um" mechanics* there was clear evidence
that womenAs interest in technical careers was discouraged.
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and hel"ed "ro8ect staff in the digging of trenches. Fowever* 9oth se>es made some financial contri9utions
towards the construction of the "ro8ect.
6.2.4 Devel of "artici"ation of men and women in "ro8ect im"lementation of ?S!
he results on the level of "artici"ation in "ro8ect im"lementation of ?S! indicate that most $&.'L# of the
res"ondents showed high "artici"ation during "ro8ect im"lementation a9le 3#. he "ro"ortion of men 63.1L#
who claimed to have shown high "artici"ation was more than that of the women grou" $H.$L# during "ro8ectim"lementation. < statistical test "erformed to esta9lish the significance of the differences* using the hi-s=uare
test of homogeneit* revealed no significant difference 9etween the level of "artici"ation of men and women
with hi-s=uare 2#
value of %.$' and " Q %.44. hus* it could 9e concluded that men and women in the eight
communities in
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significant difference 9etween the level of "artici"ation of men and women in decision-maing on "ro8ect
im"lementation in the management of ?S!. his means that* men and women in ?
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,. Policy Imlications
he findings that mem9ershi" of most men in ?
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for International +evelo"ment. an9erra* "law"df Ba H* 2%%
INS
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Bvula* . 1&&'#. ole of women in count water and sanitation su""l "ro8ects committee =uantitative re"ortO.
RA evelopment Report.-,4%#.
(nango* B. 2%%3#. $!allenges of weat!er and climate to African women' !a"er +elivered in the Second
onference on ?omen in Beteorolog and Fdrolog. Baseno 5niversit and +B /ena. etrieved from
htt"www.wmo.chwe9wmohwomendocsagenda.doc
("are* S. 2%%$#. Engaging women in communit decision-maing "rocesses in rural hana7 !ro9lems and"ros"ectsO* evelopment in Practice* 1%1#* &%-&&* alor C @rancis Dtd. on 9ehalf of (>fam ,* (nlineT
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1%%
Tables
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/igures
@igure 17 @orms of mem9ershi" to ?