Women, well-being, work, waste and sanitation action research input for new EU policy paper

One page with highlights from the three-year EU-funded action research on Women, well-being, work, waste and sanitation (4WS) by project partners from Bangladesh, Finland, India, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka is published in a new publication of the EU Water Initiative “Directing the flow - a new approach to integrated water resources management”. Download PDF file.

The action research from 2003-2006 focused on alternative strategies of environmental sanitation and waste management for improved health and socio-economic development in peri-urban coastal communities in South Asia. Partner organisations involved were: IRC (the Netherlands), University of Kuopio (Finland), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, NGO-forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation (Bangladesh), University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka), COSI Foundation for Technical Cooperation (Sri Lanka), University of Kerala-Loyola College of Social Science (India) and Socio-Economic Unit Foundation (India).

Produce paid work

The EU-INCO supported project purpose was to produce paid work in environmental sanitation for poor, young women. The aim is to bring the health benefits of sanitation as well as empowering the women through self-sustaining, paid work.

In these three countries there is only a nascent tradition of recycling biologically degradable domestic waste and human excrement for use as agricultural fertiliser. Poor people still relieve themselves in public places, which is especially problematic for women. To maintain their dignity, they may only relieve themselves privately before sunrise and after sunset. This causes health problems such as urinary tract infections.

The project was carried out in peri-urban coastal areas in India (Kerala), Sri Lanka (Kurunegala, on the west coast about 75 km north of Colombo) and Bangladesh (Morrelganj). In each area there was one pilot district and three similar districts acting as controls.

Kerala has an established group of women masons who cement local stone to build latrines. The project sent women from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to visit the Kerala group, and tried to transfer the model back to the other two countries.

The advantages of women workers

The young girls have some cultural advantages that make them suitable for this work. They can communicate with other women more easily than men can, and – unlike men – they are able to work in compounds while the men who live there are out.

Gender roles mean that young women in particular are able to benefit from the work. As they are less mobile than adolescent boys it is not easy for them to find work outside the community, and there are no opportunities for work within it. Having finished school, many girls stay at home without earning a living, until they get married. Building toilets in their own community gives them an opportunity to earn an income, as well as promoting the health benefits of sanitation.

The tasks remain new and unconventional for women, and the project is trying different ways to enlist necessary male support for the work. However, a gender balance is emerging in the voluntary groups and in the Project Advisory Committee. More work is needed to achieve the project’s objectives as regards the number of women entrepreneurs and the gender balance in the mason teams.

The Bangladesh project has had enthusiastic support from the municipal authorities. The project’s volunteers have promoted better sanitation and hygiene and have made Morrelganj aware of the issues. This is the first time women in the area have taken part in a public project as actors rather than beneficiaries. Two female and two male masons are at work building toilets – however, the women are still in a subordinate position to the men. One female entrepreneur has started making and selling compost bins.

Twenty-five households have installed a sanitary latrine, and all open latrines that drained into water sources have now been isolated from them. The concept of solid waste management has been introduced, resulting in a municipal plan for the segregation and recycling of organic waste. Meanwhile, numerous households have started waste segregation and composting of organic waste.

The project web site has more information.