Gender, Power and Local Water Governance in Rural Uganda

Gender inequality is one of the biggest challenges to equitable and sustainable natural resource and water governance in developing communities. This thesis investigates the gendered politics of access to water and participation in water governance, using a case study of Makondo Parish in rural Uganda. It empirically explores the micro political and institutional mechanisms that gender access and management of water resources in a rural context in Uganda. The study draws on a theoretical framework that includes: power and difference, particularly the works of Michel Foucault; the politics of access to resources; and theories of gender and participatory democracy and governance. A ‘qualitative-dominant’ mixed method approach was used, in which a cross-sectional survey, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, participant observation and community meetings were conducted in the study area. It is argued that whereas there are technical and administrative flaws in water governance at all levels in Makondo Parish, gender divisions and inequalities determine men and women’s access to water, water collection and participation in local water governance. The study contends that children and women are negatively impacted by the current modes of access to water, such as water technologies; formal institutions; knowledge and information; and payments or in-kind contributions. For example, despite the existence of “improved” and perhaps safer water sources in the study area, children and women mainly use “unimproved” water sources due to closer proximity, ‘reliability’ of source, and it not being necessary to pay repair or maintenance fees to use them, among other reasons. Men’s reluctance to pay repair fees and women’s inadequate access to money, a major determinant of functionality of “improved” water sources, increases the troubles that women and children face in accessing water. The study further confirms that the burden of collecting water on a daily basis falls primarily on children and women, who move long distances to fetch water, and/or queue for long periods at “improved” water sources, activities that consume their time. Women and children’s health and safety are also unevenly impacted by this burden. Health problems arise from the strain of carrying water, from accidents while negotiating hilly and uneven roads and paths, and in addition children and women’s safety can be compromised as deaths occur from drowning at ‘unimproved’ sources. Both women and children can find themselves vulnerable to verbal and physical assault as gendered social interaction unfolds around water processes. With regard to participation in water governance, this study exposes that despite their recognised roles as water managers at the household-level and national objectives to include women in community management processes, they are less involved in the governance of water than men and therefore have little influence on how water is managed. Women are not effectively represented in water resource management in Makondo parish, and although they attend water meetings more than men (largely due to their household water management role and their higher enthusiasm compared to men’s), women’s physical presence is not enough for them to voice their water needs and concerns in local water spaces. Women’s voices and choices are undermined in local water decision-making processes due to patriarchal norms and stereotypes that give men more power and opportunities and give women low self-belief in their abilities. More transformative, gender-equitable, and inclusive approaches are needed to bring about sustainable water governance in rural developing communities

Women’s access to safe water and participation in community management of supply

Poverty is rife in Uganda in both urban and rural communities. This chapter outlines the situation for poor women securing water for their households in a rural village. It gives an account of poor women’s ‘fluid lives’ as they engage in efforts to secure water for their households and participate in water governance at community level where there are persistent water-related problems. The authors conducted a socio-economic study of households in a poor rural parish in order to better understand women’s safe water access and participation in the management of a healthy community water supply. The study findings confirm that gender remains an important analytical tool for identifying access issues, since gender relations and inequalities are evident in most of the mechanisms of access to water in this community. The chapter explores how women and children remain vulnerable to lack of access to safe water, even where there are community schemes and improved water sources in place, since for the most part powerful, formal positions such as village chairperson, water user committee member, and handpump mechanic continue to be held by men. This is despite the fact that, in the case of water user committees in particular, the 1999 National Water Policy stipulates that women should make up 50 per cent of such committees. In addition, payment arrangements, particularly maintenance and repair fees, frequently result in denying vulnerable children and women physical access to water resources whenever men, as household heads, do not pay these fees. Strategies which seek to improve women’s access to safe water and power in community organization of water remain essential

Gender, Power and Local Water Governance in Rural Uganda

Gender inequality is one of the biggest challenges to equitable and sustainable natural resource and water governance in developing communities. This thesis investigates the gendered politics of access to water and participation in water governance, using a case study of Makondo Parish in rural Uganda. It empirically explores the micro political and institutional mechanisms that gender access and management of water resources in a rural context in Uganda. The study draws on a theoretical framework that includes: power and difference, particularly the works of Michel Foucault; the politics of access to resources; and theories of gender and participatory democracy and governance. A ‘qualitative-dominant’ mixed method approach was used, in which a cross-sectional survey, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, participant observation and community meetings were conducted in the study area. It is argued that whereas there are technical and administrative flaws in water governance at all levels in Makondo Parish, gender divisions and inequalities determine men and women’s access to water, water collection and participation in local water governance. The study contends that children and women are negatively impacted by the current modes of access to water, such as water technologies; formal institutions; knowledge and information; and payments or in-kind contributions. For example, despite the existence of “improved” and perhaps safer water sources in the study area, children and women mainly use “unimproved” water sources due to closer proximity, ‘reliability’ of source, and it not being necessary to pay repair or maintenance fees to use them, among other reasons. Men’s reluctance to pay repair fees and women’s inadequate access to money, a major determinant of functionality of “improved” water sources, increases the troubles that women and children face in accessing water. The study further confirms that the burden of collecting water on a daily basis falls primarily on children and women, who move long distances to fetch water, and/or queue for long periods at “improved” water sources, activities that consume their time. Women and children’s health and safety are also unevenly impacted by this burden. Health problems arise from the strain of carrying water, from accidents while negotiating hilly and uneven roads and paths, and in addition children and women’s safety can be compromised as deaths occur from drowning at ‘unimproved’ sources. Both women and children can find themselves vulnerable to verbal and physical assault as gendered social interaction unfolds around water processes. With regard to participation in water governance, this study exposes that despite their recognised roles as water managers at the household-level and national objectives to include women in community management processes, they are less involved in the governance of water than men and therefore have little influence on how water is managed. Women are not effectively represented in water resource management in Makondo parish, and although they attend water meetings more than men (largely due to their household water management role and their higher enthusiasm compared to men’s), women’s physical presence is not enough for them to voice their water needs and concerns in local water spaces. Women’s voices and choices are undermined in local water decision-making processes due to patriarchal norms and stereotypes that give men more power and opportunities and give women low self-belief in their abilities. More transformative, gender-equitable, and inclusive approaches are needed to bring about sustainable water governance in rural developing communities

Gender, Power and Local Water Governance in Rural Uganda

Gender inequality is one of the biggest challenges to equitable and sustainable natural resource and water governance in developing communities. This thesis investigates the gendered politics of access to water and participation in water governance, using a case study of Makondo Parish in rural Uganda. It empirically explores the micro political and institutional mechanisms that gender access and management of water resources in a rural context in Uganda. The study draws on a theoretical framework that includes: power and difference, particularly the works of Michel Foucault; the politics of access to resources; and theories of gender and participatory democracy and governance. A ‘qualitative-dominant’ mixed method approach was used, in which a cross-sectional survey, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, participant observation and community meetings were conducted in the study area. It is argued that whereas there are technical and administrative flaws in water governance at all levels in Makondo Parish, gender divisions and inequalities determine men and women’s access to water, water collection and participation in local water governance. The study contends that children and women are negatively impacted by the current modes of access to water, such as water technologies; formal institutions; knowledge and information; and payments or in-kind contributions. For example, despite the existence of “improved” and perhaps safer water sources in the study area, children and women mainly use “unimproved” water sources due to closer proximity, ‘reliability’ of source, and it not being necessary to pay repair or maintenance fees to use them, among other reasons. Men’s reluctance to pay repair fees and women’s inadequate access to money, a major determinant of functionality of “improved” water sources, increases the troubles that women and children face in accessing water. The study further confirms that the burden of collecting water on a daily basis falls primarily on children and women, who move long distances to fetch water, and/or queue for long periods at “improved” water sources, activities that consume their time. Women and children’s health and safety are also unevenly impacted by this burden. Health problems arise from the strain of carrying water, from accidents while negotiating hilly and uneven roads and paths, and in addition children and women’s safety can be compromised as deaths occur from drowning at ‘unimproved’ sources. Both women and children can find themselves vulnerable to verbal and physical assault as gendered social interaction unfolds around water processes. With regard to participation in water governance, this study exposes that despite their recognised roles as water managers at the household-level and national objectives to include women in community management processes, they are less involved in the governance of water than men and therefore have little influence on how water is managed. Women are not effectively represented in water resource management in Makondo parish, and although they attend water meetings more than men (largely due to their household water management role and their higher enthusiasm compared to men’s), women’s physical presence is not enough for them to voice their water needs and concerns in local water spaces. Women’s voices and choices are undermined in local water decision-making processes due to patriarchal norms and stereotypes that give men more power and opportunities and give women low self-belief in their abilities. More transformative, gender-equitable, and inclusive approaches are needed to bring about sustainable water governance in rural developing communities

Gender, Power and Local Water Governance in Rural Uganda

Gender inequality is one of the biggest challenges to equitable and sustainable natural resource and water governance in developing communities. This thesis investigates the gendered politics of access to water and participation in water governance, using a case study of Makondo Parish in rural Uganda. It empirically explores the micro political and institutional mechanisms that gender access and management of water resources in a rural context in Uganda. The study draws on a theoretical framework that includes: power and difference, particularly the works of Michel Foucault; the politics of access to resources; and theories of gender and participatory democracy and governance. A ‘qualitative-dominant’ mixed method approach was used, in which a cross-sectional survey, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, participant observation and community meetings were conducted in the study area. It is argued that whereas there are technical and administrative flaws in water governance at all levels in Makondo Parish, gender divisions and inequalities determine men and women’s access to water, water collection and participation in local water governance. The study contends that children and women are negatively impacted by the current modes of access to water, such as water technologies; formal institutions; knowledge and information; and payments or in-kind contributions. For example, despite the existence of “improved” and perhaps safer water sources in the study area, children and women mainly use “unimproved” water sources due to closer proximity, ‘reliability’ of source, and it not being necessary to pay repair or maintenance fees to use them, among other reasons. Men’s reluctance to pay repair fees and women’s inadequate access to money, a major determinant of functionality of “improved” water sources, increases the troubles that women and children face in accessing water. The study further confirms that the burden of collecting water on a daily basis falls primarily on children and women, who move long distances to fetch water, and/or queue for long periods at “improved” water sources, activities that consume their time. Women and children’s health and safety are also unevenly impacted by this burden. Health problems arise from the strain of carrying water, from accidents while negotiating hilly and uneven roads and paths, and in addition children and women’s safety can be compromised as deaths occur from drowning at ‘unimproved’ sources. Both women and children can find themselves vulnerable to verbal and physical assault as gendered social interaction unfolds around water processes. With regard to participation in water governance, this study exposes that despite their recognised roles as water managers at the household-level and national objectives to include women in community management processes, they are less involved in the governance of water than men and therefore have little influence on how water is managed. Women are not effectively represented in water resource management in Makondo parish, and although they attend water meetings more than men (largely due to their household water management role and their higher enthusiasm compared to men’s), women’s physical presence is not enough for them to voice their water needs and concerns in local water spaces. Women’s voices and choices are undermined in local water decision-making processes due to patriarchal norms and stereotypes that give men more power and opportunities and give women low self-belief in their abilities. More transformative, gender-equitable, and inclusive approaches are needed to bring about sustainable water governance in rural developing communities

Gender, Power and Local Water Governance in Rural Uganda

Gender inequality is one of the biggest challenges to equitable and sustainable natural resource and water governance in developing communities. This thesis investigates the gendered politics of access to water and participation in water governance, using a case study of Makondo Parish in rural Uganda. It empirically explores the micro political and institutional mechanisms that gender access and management of water resources in a rural context in Uganda. The study draws on a theoretical framework that includes: power and difference, particularly the works of Michel Foucault; the politics of access to resources; and theories of gender and participatory democracy and governance. A ‘qualitative-dominant’ mixed method approach was used, in which a cross-sectional survey, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, participant observation and community meetings were conducted in the study area. It is argued that whereas there are technical and administrative flaws in water governance at all levels in Makondo Parish, gender divisions and inequalities determine men and women’s access to water, water collection and participation in local water governance. The study contends that children and women are negatively impacted by the current modes of access to water, such as water technologies; formal institutions; knowledge and information; and payments or in-kind contributions. For example, despite the existence of “improved” and perhaps safer water sources in the study area, children and women mainly use “unimproved” water sources due to closer proximity, ‘reliability’ of source, and it not being necessary to pay repair or maintenance fees to use them, among other reasons. Men’s reluctance to pay repair fees and women’s inadequate access to money, a major determinant of functionality of “improved” water sources, increases the troubles that women and children face in accessing water. The study further confirms that the burden of collecting water on a daily basis falls primarily on children and women, who move long distances to fetch water, and/or queue for long periods at “improved” water sources, activities that consume their time. Women and children’s health and safety are also unevenly impacted by this burden. Health problems arise from the strain of carrying water, from accidents while negotiating hilly and uneven roads and paths, and in addition children and women’s safety can be compromised as deaths occur from drowning at ‘unimproved’ sources. Both women and children can find themselves vulnerable to verbal and physical assault as gendered social interaction unfolds around water processes. With regard to participation in water governance, this study exposes that despite their recognised roles as water managers at the household-level and national objectives to include women in community management processes, they are less involved in the governance of water than men and therefore have little influence on how water is managed. Women are not effectively represented in water resource management in Makondo parish, and although they attend water meetings more than men (largely due to their household water management role and their higher enthusiasm compared to men’s), women’s physical presence is not enough for them to voice their water needs and concerns in local water spaces. Women’s voices and choices are undermined in local water decision-making processes due to patriarchal norms and stereotypes that give men more power and opportunities and give women low self-belief in their abilities. More transformative, gender-equitable, and inclusive approaches are needed to bring about sustainable water governance in rural developing communities

Women’s access to safe water and participation in community management of supply

Poverty is rife in Uganda in both urban and rural communities. This chapter outlines the situation for poor women securing water for their households in a rural village. It gives an account of poor women’s ‘fluid lives’ as they engage in efforts to secure water for their households and participate in water governance at community level where there are persistent water-related problems. The authors conducted a socio-economic study of households in a poor rural parish in order to better understand women’s safe water access and participation in the management of a healthy community water supply. The study findings confirm that gender remains an important analytical tool for identifying access issues, since gender relations and inequalities are evident in most of the mechanisms of access to water in this community. The chapter explores how women and children remain vulnerable to lack of access to safe water, even where there are community schemes and improved water sources in place, since for the most part powerful, formal positions such as village chairperson, water user committee member, and handpump mechanic continue to be held by men. This is despite the fact that, in the case of water user committees in particular, the 1999 National Water Policy stipulates that women should make up 50 per cent of such committees. In addition, payment arrangements, particularly maintenance and repair fees, frequently result in denying vulnerable children and women physical access to water resources whenever men, as household heads, do not pay these fees. Strategies which seek to improve women’s access to safe water and power in community organization of water remain essential

Prevalence and predictors of sex under the influence of psychoactive substances among young people in informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda

Abstract Background The use of psychoactive substances such as alcohol, heroin and marijuana is associated with negative health outcomes such as sexual violence and unintended pregnancies, and risky sexual behaviours. Although there is evidence linking psychoactive substance use and risky sexual behaviours such as inconsistent condom use and multiple sexual relationships, there is limited data on sex under the influence of psychoactive substances among young people. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and predictors of sex under the influence of psychoactive substances among young people in informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 744 sexually active young psychoactive substance users in informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a digitalized structured questionnaire, preloaded on the Kobocollect mobile application. The questionnaire captured data on the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, history of psychoactive substance use, and sexual behaviours. Data were analysed using STATA Version 14.0. A modified Poisson regression model was used to determine the predictors of sex under the influence of psychoactive substances.. Adjusted prevalence ratios at a p-value value ≤ 0.05 with a 95% confidence interval were considered. Results About 61.0% (454/744) of the respondents had had sex under the influence of psychoactive substances in the last 30 days. The predictors of sex under the influence of psychoactive substances were being female (PR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.04–1.34), being 20–24 years of age (PR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.04–1.44), being married (PR 1.15, 95% CI: 1.01–1.31) or divorced/separated (PR 1.43, 95% CI: 1.26–1.61), not living with biological parents or guardians (PR 1.22, 95% CI: 0.99–1.50), earning 71 USD and below (PR 0.86, 95% CI: 0.79–1.03) and using alcohol (PR 1.43, 95% CI: 1.25–1.69), marijuana (PR 1.16, 95% CI: 1.02–1.31) and khat (PR 1.25, 95% CI: 1.10–1.42) in the last 30 days. Conclusion The study found that a high proportion of sexually active young people in informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda had engaged in sex under the influence of psychoactive substances in the past 30 days. The study also identified several factors associated with sex under the influence of psychoactive substances, including being female, being aged 20–24 years, being married or divorced or separated, not living with biological parents or guardians, and using alcohol, marijuana, or khat in the past 30 days. Our findings suggest the need for targeted sexual and reproductive health programs that incorporate risk-reduction interventions aimed at reducing sex under the influence of psychoactive substances, especially among females and those who do not live with their parents

Water and Development: Good Governance after Neoliberalism

Water has always been a crucial catalyst for human development. In Africa, competition among different sectors for this scarce resource remains a critical challenge to water managers and decision-makers. 'Water and Development' examines a range of issues, from governance to solar distillation, from gender to water pumps, using a range of research methods, from participant observation to GIS and SPSS data analysis. Throughout, however, there is the unifying thread of developing a participatory and sustainable approach to water which recognises it as an essential public necessity. The result is essential reading both for students of development and the environment and for NGOs and policy-makers seeking a robust and transformational approach to water and development

Report on Influence of conflict, gender, and class relations on availability of water in the household

This review essay lays out the conceptual and historical groundwork for the primary research that the WATERSPOUTT social science team will carry out through the project period over four research sites in Ethiopia, Malawi, South Africa and Uganda. We have described it as a report synthesising secondary data on conflict, gender, and class relations in the four case study areas. However, it is emphatically not intended as an exhaustive description of the specificities of the four research sites – the sections that follow will traverse quite unevenly across these regions. The essay will instead offer an overarching reading of how these research sites are situated within wider structures and relationships of power. It will engage the recurrent themes and key debates that have dominated the relevant literatures in the fields of social theory and historical and social studies in order to build a broad foundation of understanding for the empirical research that is to come