NGOs to combat time poverty

Jumping back into my focus on women and the struggle of time poverty, this particular post is going to give a case study example where efforts have been made to reduce the mental and physical effort that women go through during water collection. As I mentioned previously, the responsibility that women have come to own for freshwater is a cultural mindset that has been deeply embedded in some African societal norms. Whilst there is still the prevalence of water scarcity and gender discrimination within the continent, some countries are introducing programs to alleviate female hardship with relation to water. This is often presented through the work of International NGOs who see it as their responsibility to aid less economically developed nations. However, this charitable act has been debated as a form of Western imposition to reverse the lack of ‘development’, which itself is a contested term. For example, the common interpretation of the movement and migration of individuals in Africa is that it represents the escape from extreme poverty and the inevitable spread of diseases such as HIV (Bakewell, 2008). However, this ignores the potential benefits of movement that are ignored by NGOs, reflecting paternalist paradigms, such as the economic potential of remittances and the transfer of migrant skills (Bakewell, 2008). Nonetheless, NGOs are making contributions to improve the condition of women who are disadvantaged through their responsibility of water. This post is going to focus on the NGO Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) which was initially established in the United States as an organisation centred around the distribution of food and basic supplies to those in Europe following the food shortages after World War Two (careinternational.org). Now, it prioritises female empowerment in order to reduce poverty. As a result, it has taken into the consideration the gender disparity which is widened as a result of water collection in Africa.

One of CARE’s approaches to female empowerment regarding water has centred around completely reconstructing 6 water systems in rural Ethiopia. They have invested in creating a solar-powered pump to replace the hand pump, connecting to a 25,000L tank which will provide 24-hour reliable freshwater access (careinternational.org). Naturally, a solar powered water pump is an example of appropriate technology within Africa due to the abundance of sunlight. Furthermore, management of the new water system is run by a local water management committee which consists of community members, and it is concluded by the community that a monthly fee paid by all households for the service is most appropriate (careinternational.org). Whilst this funds the maintenance of the water provisioning system, the technological knowledge required to allow the system to function requires training. Nonetheless, CARE provides training for some individuals in the community to make this a sustainable source of freshwater (careinternational.org).  Through this community-led management system, the challenge of time poverty for women is significantly reduced. The location of the high-storage water tank means that there is a reduced distance for women and young girls to travel to collect water, providing them with more time to receive an education or partake in income-earning activities. Before, it was stated that some women had to travel for 3 hours in order to find water for her family (careinternational.org).  In addition, by being offered the opportunity for training, there is the potential for these women to battle gender stereotypes as they become in charge of a community service. Ultimately, this can contribute to the female escape from the poverty cycle.

‘Solar panels and the rig for drilling a borehole and installing a water pump in Ferehenu.’ Source

Whilst this is an example of how an NGO is contributing to the reduction of time poverty for women in Ethiopia, there are some risks of installing community-led management schemes for water provisioning. If the systems are unsustainable, the gender equality gap will be exacerbated, and female empowerment will struggle to surface in these post-colonial nations. In order for communities to successfully and sustainably run a water system, there needs to be a strong sense of ownership and financial commitment from the community. Hence, this solar-panel system in Ethiopia has more potential to be sustainable and positively contribute to the progression of women as it is directly run and owned by members of the community. However, there are other factors that threaten the sustainability of community-led schemes discussed by Harvey and Reed (2006). With rural areas evidently becoming smaller than urban ones, the number of people available to run the water systems are fewer. There is high dependency on a few number of people within the committee to run the water system, who could potentially leave or pass away (Harvey and Reed, 2006). In addition, by delegating all responsibility of water provisioning to a small community, they can become isolated in times of financial insecurity such as if technology needs replacing (Harvey and Reed, 2006). In this case, if a solar panel became damaged, the challenge would be finding a way to afford to afford replacement of this infrastructure. Therefore, I believe that there should be some level of local governance to support community-led programmes which reduces the threat of isolation. By this I mean that local governance should assist in facilitating community management as oppose to directly governing it in order to maintain a community sense of ownership.

I have discussed how the help of NGOs has the potential to reduce female time poverty in Ethiopia by providing sustainable water pumps and efficiently located storage tanks, whilst being run under a community-led scheme to heighten ownership and responsibility. Efficient accessibility of freshwater ultimately reduces the amount of time and physical effort required of women to collect water. However, it is important to consider that community-led schemes do have their limitations and that they cannot be relied upon to alleviate gender inequality in rural Africa due to the potential to disturb sustainable infrastructure. Furthermore, it is important to question whether infrastructural changes can improve gender equality levels when cultural norms are so influential.