Women in the mainstream

Laraba has felt the benefits of hygiene education, she says: "I am glad to be cleaner, I feel better now."

Credit: WaterAid / Suzanne Porter

WaterAid believes that projects should be implemented with equity so that everyone has equal access to a safe water supply and improved sanitation.

Over the years WaterAid has witnessed the disadvantages women suffer due to socially defined constraints that undermine their role in community development. It is particularly tragic when women are sidelined in the water and sanitation development process because it is their lives that are most impacted by these projects.

As the task of collecting water falls predominently on women, very few women in developing countries today have the opportunity to get an education or to become decision-makers in the community.

However WaterAid has found that a well thought through intervention strategy can reduce the barriers women face and realise their potential.

The Alhazai community

In the predominently Muslim community of Alhazai, in the north of Maigatari local government area in Jigawa, WaterAid has been making good progress actively involving women in all stages of the work.

In 2004, before WaterAid started working in Alhazai with the Maigatari local government, women faced many barriers to their involvement in the development process.

The socio-cultural beliefs of the people of Alhazai community prevented women from mixing freely with men. Women could not sit in community meetings with them and it was taboo for a woman to sit and talk in a gathering where her father-in-law or in-laws were present. Because these beliefs were tenaciously held, it was even more difficult for women to achieve any leadership position.

Similarly, women were prevented from playing a role in decision making. Cultural beliefs in the Alhazai community made it almost impossible to hear their opinions. As they were not consulted in any decision or action, their interests were not represented. Most of the women had no skills to engage in economic ventures thereby perpetuating their poverty and reinforcing their dependence on male breadwinners.

Thanks to WaterAid interventions, two years on and Alhazai's women have experienced empowerment through leadership and decision-making roles and by becoming economically active.

So what has changed?

Leadership With the intervention of staff from Maigatari Water and Sanitation Unit, women are now actively involved in the leadership and management of the community project and are members of the Water and Sanitation Committees (WASCOM). Women are also taking the lead in hygiene promotion.

Decision-making At the design and project planning stage, all community groups, including women, were involved in decisions about the different technical options. The suitability of those improvements was considered for each member of the community regardless of gender, age and physical abilities. With representation on the project management committee women could contribute to decisions about the day to day management of the project.
 
Women's empowerment With WaterAid's intervention, women have been empowered through training in slab making, sanitation centre management and soap making. These skills have enabled the women to increase their family income.

Women now make and sell latrine slabs to households within and outside the communities. They also make and sell soap, each bar selling for N10. From selling soap, women not only make economic gains but improve hygiene practices by encouraging hand washing. Women are now more involved in educating their children in hygiene and sanitation with great positive impacts on their health.

Additionally, the women of Alhazai community do not have to wait for the men to help repair of their handpump as they have been trained in the operation and maintenance of these facilities.

Thanks to WaterAid's work, now the Alhazai community is not only blessed with safe water and a greater awareness of hygiene and sanitation practices, it is also more economically active and socially inclusive.