Publications

Research outputs, reports, policy briefs and knowledge products from KIU scholars and partners.

2023 Faculty of Education NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CURRENT RESEARCH IN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

The Need for Women Involvement in Water and Sanitation Schemes

Ugwu Jovita Nnenna; Eze Chidinma Esther

Water is very important to the body, as it is used in every cell of the human body. Apart from the critical role playedby water in the human body, water is also a major aspect of human growth and development. This is seen in the factthat, water has always being a key driver of sustainable growth and poverty alleviation, being an input to almost allproduction, in agriculture, industry, energy, transport. Access to safe water increases economic returns.Accordingly, improving household water access impacts household finances and ultimately, the economy at a macrolevel. More so, access to safe water and a toilet at home can reduce a family’s health care expenses. Nevertheless,even though there are several studies and forums on women’s involvement in water and sanitation for over decadesnow, in reality women have not been as active in the sector as one would have expected. This paper examined somefactors responsible for the low level of involvement and makes suggestions on how this can be improved. It concludedthat although women need to work alongside men in rural water and sanitation projects, men should first of all bemade to appreciate the crucial role of women in order for them to fashion out appropriate strategies to involve theirwomen counterparts effectively. The involvement of the women should be facilitated by social workers who have toensure that outside workers do not disturb the socio-cultural milieu where the women live and operate. Lastly, thewomen should not be addressed in isolation but as part of the complete network of relations of rural societies