Gender Assessment for

Sustainable Water and

Sanitation Development:
A Nigerian Case Study

Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji

Project Coordinator /CEO
Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP)
Presentation prepared by Kelly Miller, University at Buffalo
 Outline
• Introduction
o Nigerian Situation, Burden on Females, Gender and Planning
• Case Study
o Methodology, The City, WATSAN Situation, Profile of Water Utility, Alternate
Water Supply, Distance Collecting Water, Daily Water Use, Common
Diseases
• Assessment Overview
o Pro-poor Governance, Urban Sanitation, Water Demand Management
• Water as the Kernel of Sustainable Development
o Integrated Water Resources Management
• Conclusion
o Important Arguments, Constraints on WATSAN, Need for Gender
Assessments
 Introduction:
Nigerian Situation
• Increased water resources development
since 1960 Nigerian independence
• Each state has State Water Supply
Agency (SWA)
• Federal Government, NGOs,
international agencies and banks
intervene
• Fundamental Problems with WATSAN
 Introduction:
Fundamental Problems
• Lack of safe sources of water supply
• Inadequate means of human waste disposal
• Transmission of diseases because of
inadequate awareness of heath problems
o i.e. The habit of defecating and urinating in the bush,
close to the home or near water sources
• High endemic cases of diarrhea diseases in
most of the city
o Caused by infrequent washing of hands and the
indiscriminate disposal of waste and domestic water
 Introduction:
Burden on Females
•Millions of women and girls in underserved
communities
•Trek long distances, then wait in line to fill their buckets with water
•Often takes several hours

•Carrying water on head, back or hip

•Typical container holds 20 L, so weighs 20 kg
•Commonly experience backache and joint pains
•Extreme cases: spine and pelvic deformities
•Creates complications in pregnancy and childbirth

•Consequences for children, especially girls

•Restricts attendance at school
•Reduces time for play
 Introduction:
Gender and Planning
• United Nations decade for women in
1975
o Until then, women’s reproductive,
productive and community management
roles and potentials were marginalized
and left out
• Development planning was gender
insensitive because:
o Interaction between indigenous culture
and colonial patriarchy
o Religion, traditionalism, capitalist
ideologies
• Gender gap in access to water
remains
o Despite relatively recent international
commitments
 Methodology
Collection of both primary and secondary data
• Household surveys
o 1500 questionnaires distributed, 1400 collected
o 800 women, 600 men
• Transect walk
• Observations
• Workshops etc.
• Focus Group Discussions
Gwarandok Focus
Group
Gwarandok Interview
 The City

• Jos is the capital of Plateau State, Nigeria.

• Population of 1.2 million people (1991 census)
o 46.9% of the Plateau State population
• Area of 1322 square kilometers
• Annual rainfall in Jos varies from 131.75cm to
146cm
Economic Activities
of Jos Residents

Men
Women

Most of the women are

full time housewives
 WATSAN Situation
Agenda 21 says:
All people have the right to have access to drinking water in
quantities and of quality equal to their basic needs

•As of 2004: 40-54% of the population had potable water access

o Less than that number had access to good sanitation
•Jos is still far from meeting:
o the WHO minimum of 200 litres/capita/day in cities
o the UN-habitat quantity availability of at least 20 litres/person/day
• ~less than 10% and without excessive effort and < 1 hour a day
 WATSAN Situation
Worsened
• Situation worsened by:
o widespread occurrence of non-yielding
community water wells
o absence of piped house connections
o inability to afford the rates of water
vendors/tankers
 Profile of Water Utility
Provider
• Plateau State Water Board (PSWB)
o supplies water to urban and semi-urban areas, especially Jos
o supplies pipelines, maintains water and collects money

• Sells metered water at N60 (USD $ 0.44) per cubic meter

o N1.02 (USD$0.08) per jerry can of water sold
o Most common: N450 (USD$3.3) per household per month

• Spends ~ N30million (USD $ 221k) monthly to run operations

o 48% of this is internally generated
o 52% of the amount is from the State Government or other cost saving
measures

• Efforts towards greater and more efficient services

Management Positions in
PSWB in 2005

• 7 members of the Board of Directors

• Only Commissioner is female
Female PSWB Staff
Members
 Current Status of
PSWB
• State-owned agency
• Unable to generate sufficient funds from
consumers
o Limits the provision of sustainable water supply in parts of
Jos
• PSWB presently has a total of 4 schemes in
the city
o Combined design capacity of 101mld
o 15,700 connections
• Treated water from the PSWB
o Good water quality
o Serves approximately 728,000 people
• Water availability is irregular
o Shortfall of half a million people
• Their water is from private boreholes, water vendors or
local streams
 Alternate Water Supply
• Availability
o shallow city wells
• around ¾ of them:
o dry up or little yield in dry season, or collapse
in wet season
• cannot provide for more than half of the residents
during the dry season
o increase in drinking water demand during the dry
season
•Factors resulting in waterborne diseases
o Use of a single water source for multiple purposes
• drinking, bathing, washing and animal rearing
o Unsafe handling and storage of water
 Distance covered
in collecting water
Wet Season Dry Season
Males Males
Females Females

< 0.5km 0.5-1.0 km 1.1- 2.0 km > 2.0 km .

Daily Water Use
 Water-related Common
Diseases Suffered by Jos
Residents
Common Class of water- Seasonal Victims %
diseases related disease Occurrence

Men Women

Malaria* Insect vector mechanism Endemic

Diarrhea Waterborne/washed Endemic

Typhoid Waterborne Dry season

Dysentery Waterborne/washed Endemic

Guinea
*Malariaworm*
and GuineaWaterborne
worm were not listed on the Endemic
questionnaire but have been specified by some mothers
Cholera Waterborne Wet season
 Pro-Poor Governance
• State Economic Empowerment and
Development Strategy (SEEDS)
o Aims to increase women’s representation to at
least 30% in all programs
o Affordable housing, sanitation, aims to
increase water access to 60% of the population
• National Water and Sanitation Policy
o Involves Federal, State and Local Government
Councils
 Poor Urban
Involvement
• Involvement lacking in WATSAN governance
o Covert repression of women’s participation

• No financial mechanism in place to help them

benefit from safe, affordable WATSAN

• No mitigation strategies in place to assist

females
o Need water and sanitation more than males
o Cleaning, laundry, household chores
 Urban Sanitation
• Residents of Jos do not view sanitation as a problem
• Inadequate sanitation infrastructure in low-income
neighborhoods
• Sanitation at schools:
o Pit latrines
• Girls seek improvement because of itching caused
• Absent from school during menstrual period
• Government’s responsibility
o State Agency: Jos Metropolitan Development Board
o Local government does not accept responsibility
Type of Toilet Facilities
Households Use

Pit Latrine
41% 48% Pour flush toilet

11% No toilet /open

defecation
 Water Demand
Management
• PSWB does not meet RAAC
tests
• Unserved poor more willing to
pay for water
• Jos does not have:
o Water demand audit
o Water demand management strategy
• PSWB lacks exact records of
Jos community leader
its supply coverage
 Water As The Kernel of
Sustainable Development
Countries need to ensure accessible supplies of
unpolluted water

• Improve health, reduce

child mortality, advance
women’s status & other
benefits
• Urban, peri-Urban, rural
livelihoods; food; energy;
private sector growth;
ecosystem integrity
 Integrated Water
Resources Management
Seeks to:
• Avoid the lives lost, the money wasted, and the
natural capital depleted
• Ensure that water is developed and managed
equitably
o Diverse water needs of women and the poor are addressed
• Ensure that water is used to advance a country’s
social and economic development goals
o In ways that do not compromise ecosystem or future water
sustainability
 Dublin Principles for
IWRM
• Effective management of water resources
demands a holistic approach

• Water development and management should be

based on a participatory approach

• Women play a central part in the provision,

management and safeguarding of water

• Water should be recognized as an economic good

 Conclusion:
Constraints on WATSAN
• Effectiveness: how well
objective is met
• Efficiency: output produced
per unit of resources
• Equity: how well water services
reach all members of
communities
• Replicability: essential to
expansion of water services and
to increase sustainable access
to safe drinking water
 Conclusion:
Important Arguments
• Sustainable water
management and gender
equity
o Mutually supporting and
interdependent

• Achieve sustainability in the

management of scarce water
resources
o Involve women and men in influential
roles at all levels

• Improve access to water and

sanitation
o Managing water in an integrated and
sustainable way
 Conclusion:
Need for Gender
Assessments
• Attempts to improve the situation in Jos
or elsewhere should have gender surveys

• Water for African Cities Phase II (WAC II)

in Jos is a welcome development
o Geared for long-term improvement in the lives of the
people

• Monitoring, evaluation and review crucial

 Questions?
Contact Information

• Email:
ruralafrwapd@yahoo.com
• Website:
www.ruralafrwadp.org
• Address:
1 Tetlow Road /4 Assumpta Avenue
Opp. First Bank PlC.
P.O.Box 6116
Owerri, Nigeria
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