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Women and Water
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CHANGING LIFESTYLES With a clean water supply in homes, more time is spent on productive activities
It was not easy, recalls Nadia Saeed as she reflects on her experiences as a community motivator for a rural water and sanitation project in Pakistan’s Punjab Province.
But the efforts of Ms. Saeed — and many others — were recognized recently when the Housing, Urban Development, and Public Health Engineering Department of Punjab Province, Pakistan, received the first ADB Water Prize during the Water Week celebration in December 2002.
The Department was recognized for successfully promoting stake-holder participation, hygiene education, and local community ownership in the ADB-financed Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project.
The prize is presented to project agencies in recognition of sound practice in implementing ADB’s “Water for All” policy.
In presenting the prize, ADB President Tadao Chino noted the work carried out under the project by many community-based organizations in Punjab Province, including all the voluntary contributions in managing the water supply schemes and social development activities initi-ated with the help of the project.
Ms. Saeed, a sociologist, was involved in designing, implementing, and monitoring the Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project, which provided simple, low-cost water supply and drainage systems in 335 rural villages in Punjab Province for safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.
It was the first ADB project in Punjab to employ a community-based, demand-driven approach in which local people were involved in planning and overseeing the construction of the systems, and were respon sible for all the operation and maintenance costs.
Punjab is Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated province with a population of about 84 million. About 60% of the Punjab population lives in rural areas, and 36% lives below the poverty line. Safe water is supplied to only about 53% of the rural population: the remainder relies on water sources such as uncovered wells, rivers, rainfed canals, and ponds.
The project, financed with an ADB loan of $46 million, ran from May 1995 until May 2002, and constructed 305 pumping and 30 gravity systems to benefit about 800,000 rural dwellers whose average monthly income is less than $63.
Nadia Saeed, Sociologist
In addition to Ms. Saeed, Gul Fareen Yaqoob, President of the Thathi Gujran village community organization in Attock district of Punjab Province, and Javed Iqbal Chaudhry, Project Director, also journeyed to ADB headquarters in Manila to receive the prize.
It was Ms. Yaqoob’s first trip out-side Pakistan. A physical education teacher, she said her neighbors were proud when they heard about the award. "There was happiness and excitement in the village," she says, "We are looked upon as a model community."
"We are encouraged to do more and explore innovative ways to be more effective. We would love to come back with more success stories. This is not the end but the beginning."
Ms. Yaqoob says more will be expected of her community in training other communities, including other women leaders who are keen in joining the competition.
Unfazed by societal-cultural barriers, the Project’s community motivators, such as Ms. Saeed, have created community-based organizations among women to help design and carry out the project.
The project also has empowered the largely uneducated population. “We now have a voice,” Ms. Saeed says. “Women, who were previously neglected, now participate in decision making. The future of women and children has become more prosperous.”
Without sacrificing traditional values, the community motivators regularly met with women—separately from men—in community centers to discuss the project. The women exchanged views and adopted ways of promoting health and hygiene.
Reading materials that explain the benefits of water supply and sanitation were prepared. The respective representatives of the men’s and women’s community-based organizations also held discussions.
Shakeel Ahmad Khan, Urban Development Specialist, Social Sectors Division of ADB’s South Asia Department, attributed the Project’s acceptance and success to awareness-raising activities, motivation, teamwork, and a sense of project ownership.
“As a community, the women explored the options that would be best for them,” he says. “Peer pressure and a common desire to lead better lives—send children to school, improve health and sanitation, and increase income—have led to the Project’s success.”
BETTER LIVES Women now have more time to work at paying jobs (above); more girls—and boys—are now enrolled in primary schools
Mr. Chaudhry stresses the importance of confidence building. “Confidence was raised during collective sharing of information at community meetings. These were demand-driven schemes. The community decides what they should be provided to get maximum benefit.”
For example, the communities were presented with different options on the various sources of water, the distance to households, and the tariff to be paid. By basing their decisions on the information provided, they were able to claim ownership of the Project, and assume responsibility for its success.
Ms. Saeed said the women were also actively involved in monitoring the project implementation. “They kept watch and told the contractor when they believed the construction materials were of inferior quality,” she says.
After completion, the women took re- sponsibility for operating and maintaining the Project. They were given the option to hire staff members, such as sweepers, and pay them from tariff collections, or to do work—such as cleaning drains and pavements—themselves.
“The important thing is to keep motivating,” says Ms. Saeed. “Women’s role in tariff collection is also important. Aware of the benefits of the Project, the women prod their husbands to pay the tariff or risk getting disconnected from the water source.”
Access to clean water has led to significant benefits. The incidence of waterborne diseases has decreased by 90%. Children are no longer required to fetch water and are instead sent to school—this has resulted in an 80% increase in enrollment. Household income has increased by more than 20% because women have more time to generate income.
From left: Gul Fareen Yaqoob, President, Thathi Gujran Village Community Organization in Attock District of Punjab Province; Nadia Saeed, Community Motivator; Javed Iqbal Chaudhry, Project Director; Shakeel Khan, ADB Urban Development Specialist; Jan van Heeswijk, ADB Director General, Regional and Sustainable Development Department; Tadao Chino, ADB President; Hon. Iftikhar Hussain Kazmi, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the Philippines; and Akram Malik, ADB Executive Director for Pakistan
In the past, women and children would spend 3–6 hours a day carrying water from 500 meters to 6 kilometers away. This water was often from unsafe sources—canals contaminated with pesticides, rainfed areas where animals graze, and stagnant ponds.
The practice of carrying heavy pitchers of water on their heads has left an indelible mark—a bald patch on many women’s heads—says Mr. Khan.
“With a clean water supply in homes, more time is spent on productive activities. Life-styles have changed,” says Ms. Saeed.
Efforts are now focused on promoting livelihood activities such as embroidery, poultry raising, milk production, and marketing produce in urban centers. “Women feel good that they are helping the men generate revenue,” she says.
At times, monthly tariff collections from households have exceeded requirements. The money was used to provide scholarships, books, and street lighting; finance small industries; and help orphans. Savings were also recently used to buy 12 sewing machines for women.
Ms. Saeed says improved living conditions in Punjab have attracted migrants to return to their villages. The project has, in effect, contributed to “de-urbanization,” she says. Women in Punjab now have new hope for a better life for themselves and their communities.
They are eagerly awaiting the project’s second phase, which will be funded by a $50 million loan approved in 2002, to provide safe drinking water and sanitation facilities to about 2,500 poor rural communities with an estimated population of 2.3 million in Punjab Province.
The project’s second phase will promote microcredit for self-help initiatives, and provide additional classrooms to accommodate the children who are now enrolled—and no longer fetching water.
Find out how ADB and its partners address the problem on water in the Asia-Pacific region
Visit our Water site
Learn more about ADB's activities in Pakistan.
Visit our Pakistan Resident Mission site
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