Water and Sanitation Provision and its Effects on Poor Women: The Case of Selected Neighbourhoods in Addis Ababa
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Date
2007-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study. by taking the case of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. investigates the
effects of W ATSAN provision on poor wOmen. The study was instiga ted by the observation
that the pressure of inadequate provision fall more on the poor than be tter offs; and among
the poor, the problems are intense on women due to biological. economic and soc iocul
tural fac tors.
In order to thorough ly exam ine water supplv and sanitation issues affecting poor women in
the Addis Ababa context, relevant primary and secondary data wcrc generated and perso nal
observati ons were made and analyzed. Three poor neighbourhoods (two from the inner-citv
slums and one from the in formal settl emen ts) were iclentilied as case study areas and 110
p")Or WOlllL'll were se lected through a multi-stage sampl ing method.
Major finclings of th e study indicate that in the city III general and in the studied
neighborhoods in particular unavailab ility of WATSi\N at the requi red quantity, place.
afford ab ility. accessib ili ty and sa fety has been strongly affect ing the lives of poor women. It
shows that these interrelated effects highly innuence the hea lth, income. pri vacy. dignit\ยท.
sec urit y, social status of poor women including the time they ca n use for selfimprovcmcnl.
As the effec ts are multiple so are the causes. The res ults of this st ud y show that the roots
causes arc related to the socio-cconomic stntus of WOmen including the rigid division of
labour. inadequate access to economic resources and poor decision mak ing power. These
coupled with fa ilure to implement the nationally declared gende r and poverty po lic ies 'IS
wel l as gender mainstrea ming st rategies made women arguably the 1110 St depri ved ill human
as well as econo mic term s.
The study concludes th at WATSAN, which is one of' the most import an t development
chall enges fac ing Addis Ababa. has been alTecting the li ves of the poorest of the poor \\ho
li ve in the ill . se rviced sluills and squatter settl ements. So, action to improve WATSAN
situation is an important step to enable the poor peoplc in general anei poor women In
parti cu lar to escape po ve rty.
To escape Cram poverty. among other thi ngs. pom \\omen need \0 be empowCJ'ed. To
achieve this goal. economic gro wth and finallcial resou rces arc 01" course necessa ry. but till'}"
,Ire no! ctlougl1. This study suggests Ih~ll hy ;ldoptillg ~lll intcgr<.l!cd <.mel nl\.!lti - ~cc t nr('d
approach. by putti ng poor WOl llclt'S nceds at the centcr 01' \Vi\TSi\N se rvice pruvisions and
hy CJl~lhlitl g them to ta~ c p~lrt ill the decision Il\;lking and pri() rity sell ing process it is
possiblc to Illake a dii'li.;rcncc.
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Keywords
Effects on Poor Women