Water and Gender in Africa

We have reached my final post in this series. I have learnt a lot along the way and taken this blog down various avenues, exploring issues of gender inequality in the context of water in Africa. But as I come to my final conclusions, I'd like to remind us of my initial question in my first post, ' which SDG is the most important’? For some, water and sanitation was seen as most crucial ( Lampert & Papadongonas, 2016 ), but I hope my blog has left space for the argument that achieving gender equality is crucial, if not critical, for a sustainable, global future. Gender equality is vital for achieving social cohesion, in order to end gender discrimination. SDG 5 is not only a 'human right', but it is also about the 'visibility' of women. Encouraging female empowerment through all parts of society ( Küfeoğlu, 2022: p.277) . From discussions surrounding period poverty, ideas of decolonising and indigenous knowledge. To sexism within the WASH workplace and how wo...

In light of the recent COP28, I wanted to use this next blog to explore the relationship between climate change and gender in the context of Africa.   Countries paying the price As the world gets warmer, the countries least to blame are the ones who pay the highest price . Anthropogenic reasons for climate change come from countries responsible for the highest fossil fuel emissions , not African nations. However, there are many examples of how climate change is impacting the African continent. For example, some African countries experiencing rising surface temperatures may fall victim to the effects of the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. That, the  warmer the surface temperatures, the holding capacity for rain in clouds rises exponentially. This results in more drought periods for some and less frequent, but heavier, precipitation events for others ( Tabari, 2020 ). These effects can be seen as increased flooding, decline in crop yield, failing livestock and livelihoods ( Pa...