Concluding remarks: Integrating SDGs 5 & 6

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 (.


From discussions surrounding period poverty, ideas of decolonising and indigenous knowledge. To sexism within the WASH workplace and how women are worse affected by climate change, my blog has depicted how issues of gender inequality transpire throughout many aspects of water in Africa. 


So what actionable targets have been set up to make sure that we achieve both SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation)? As we've crossed the halfway point on the way to 2030, all aspects of society must come together and collaborate. Helpfully, Oxfam has set out 3 key actionable aims to integrate and implement SDG 5 & 6:


- Improve the number of sex-disaggregated data that we have for both SDG 5 and 6


- Promote female leadership and have substantial participation in managing the WASH sector - in all spheres: community, nationwide and international


- Protest against social constructs concerning unpaid labour, female leadership and gender-based violence/exploitation.



SDG's 5 & 6


.....

A note to end on

I want to end my blog with a thank you to the lessons I have learnt over the course of this module. From Tamara Magwashu in South Africa, to Maha Khallaf in Egypt, exploring the role that gender plays in community level, NGO level and at the top in organisations of the WASH sector, has been a rewarding task. As I write this as a European women, I recognise my positionality in writing these posts. I have attempted to apply a decolonised systems thinking approach, as Adali presents, to come from a place of empathy, sensitivity and kindness. I hope that tone carried throughout the posts. 


Finally, a reminder, that by viewing world issues - whether that be to do with water or not, doing so through a gendered lens will always pertain helpful. 'Mainstreaming gender' in these discussions means more than just gender, it means that no one is left out (Ndesamburo, 2012: p.454). As we actively make space for women in the WASH sector, we are allowing room to relearn, letting women make change; appreciating the merit in using integrated approaches to viewing water and gender in Africa. 

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