Every time her home runs of out of water, Pumeza Mabele knows as a woman it is her duty to replenish supplies, but it is the fear linked to fetching water from a nearby communal tap in Site C, Khayelitsha, that distresses this mother of three.
“I don’t mind doing it because fetching water is something I’ve been doing since childhood. Culturally it is a taboo for my husband to fetch water while I’m at home. But doing this in the township is not as safe as it was when I was growing up in rural areas.
“Here I always have to ask someone to accompany me to the tap, which is only about three minutes away from my home, as it is very unsafe standing alone at the tap as a woman. I’ve heard of people being robbed by gangsters who hang around the tap and threaten you. There is always shooting going on. The same applies when it comes to public toilets. I don’t set my foot there when it is dark, as I don’t feel safe.”
Mabele’s experience is not unique.
According to a new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (Unicef), women and girls bear the brunt of the sanitation crisis as the ones responsible for fetching water in seven out of 10 households that don’t have supplies on the premises. The report is the first in-depth analysis of gender inequalities in drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (Wash) in households across the world.
The report, which tracks progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene between 2000-2002 with a special focus on gender, also shows more than half a billion people share sanitation facilities with other households, compromising the privacy, dignity and safety of women and girls.
It suggests females are more likely to feel unsafe using a toilet outside the home and disproportionately feel the impact of the lack of hygiene. Women are four times more likely to fetch water in Africa and nearly times three times more likely in central and southern Asia.
The report shows between 2015 and 2022, global coverage of at least basic drinking water rose from 88% to 91%. Rural coverage increased from 79% to 84% and urban coverage increased from 96% to 97%. By 2022, 83 countries had achieved universal coverage of having basic drinking water services, which is above 99%, but South Africa is lagging behind at between 75% and 99%.
Cecilia Sharp, Unicef director of Wash said: “Every step a girl takes to collect water is a step away from learning, play and safety. Unsafe water, toilets, and handwashing at home robs girls of their potential, compromises their wellbeing and perpetuates cycles of poverty.”
In 32 countries, coverage remained below 75%, including four countries in Africa where less than half the population had basic drinking water in 2022. The report says only 93 countries are on track to achieve universal coverage of above 90% by 2030.
In South Africa only 50% to 75% of the population has safely managed sanitation services and the country is not on track to achieve universal access by 2030. The report says overall the rate of progress to improve safely managed sanitation will need to increase threefold to meet the global target.
The report comes as SA battles with an outbreak of cholera, which has been linked to poor sanitation and claimed 47 lives so far. The country has recorded about 1,073 cases of the disease in five provinces, with 198 laboratory-confirmed, between February and July this year.
About 2.2-billion people, or one in four, suggests the report, lack safely managed drinking water at home and 3.4-billion people, or two in five, do not have safely managed sanitation. About 2-billion people, or one in four, cannot wash their hands with soap and water at home.
It notes that achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target for universal access to safely managed drinking water, sanitation and basic hygiene services by 2030 will require a six-fold increase in current rates of progress for safely managed drinking water, a five-fold increase for safely managed sanitation, and a three-fold increase for basic hygiene services.
Authors called for further efforts to ensure progress on Wash contributes towards gender equality.
Dr Maria Neira, WHO director environment, climate change and health department, said women and girls not only faced infectious diseases such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. but also “face additional health risks because they are vulnerable to harassment, violence and injury when they have to go outside the home to haul water or use the toilet".
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