Look Who’s Talking. Explaining Water-Related Information Sharing and Demand for Action Among Ugandan Villagers

Abstract

Many national water policies propagate community-based participatory approaches to overcome weaknesses in supply-driven rural water provision, operation, and maintenance. Citizen involvement is thought to stimulate bottom-up accountability and broaden the information base, which may enrich design and implementation processes and foster improved water accessibility and sustainability. Practices on the ground, however, are embedded in socio-political realities which mediate possible beneficial effects of participatory approaches. This paper builds on full social network data collected in a Ugandan village to study the social and political reality of two distinct levels of participation, i.e. local information sharing among citizens and a more active appeal to fellow citizens to improve water services. We use Logistic Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure to explore what type of actor and network traits influence information sharing and whether the same factors are in play in the demand for action to remedy water-related problems. Whereas social aspects (social support relations) and homophily (using the same water source, the same gender) play an important role in information sharing, it is the educational level, in particular, of the villager who is called upon that is important when villagers demand action. Our findings also demonstrate that those most in need of safe water do not mobilize their information sharing ties to demand for action. This indicates that building local water policies and practice exclusively on locally existing demand for action may fail to capture the needs of the most deprived citizens.

A Systematic Review of Water and Gender Interlinkages: Assessing the Intersection With Health

“…Women Are the Primary Water Purveyors, Particularly in the Developing Regions of the World Largely, the identified observational studies ( Table 1) emphasized issues in accessing clean water among women and girls, and described that a lack of clean water and water resources negatively contributed to women and girl's health and quality of life (Doherty et al, 2007;Bornman et al, 2012;Sato et al, 2016;Gaspar et al, 2017;Vos et al, 2017;Angoua et al, 2018;Prado et al, 2019). Studies which considered gender likewise revealed a lack of access to improved water for both men and women alike (Ugbomoiko et al, 2009;Al-Delaimy et al, 2014;Atalabi et al, 2016;Holvoet et al, 2016;Akombi et al, 2017;Baker et al, 2018). Few studies directly compared whether access to water differed as a result of a gender.…”

“…However, Bisung and Elliott (2018) showed that female-headed households had reduced access to water security (Bisung and Elliott, 2018). Moreover, within a household, there was substantial evidence that women as the primary carriers of water with prevalence estimates ranging from 61 to 79% (Hunter, 2006;Bornman et al, 2012;Holvoet et al, 2016;Geere et al, 2018). Indeed, the presence of a wife in the household significantly increased the likelihood of having access to clear water (Angoua et al, 2018).…”

“…Indeed, the presence of a wife in the household significantly increased the likelihood of having access to clear water (Angoua et al, 2018). Mean travel times for fetching water were as high as 54 min (Holvoet et al, 2016). Consequently, poor access to water at a household level disproportionately impacts women and girls who are commonly responsible for securing water.…”

“…Furthermore, a comprehensive intervention which combined hand-pumps, latrines, and hygiene education demonstrated significant success after a 7-years follow-up, drastically increasing the number of households using improved WASH practices, reducing bacteria on the hands of mothers, and consequently the incidence of diarrhea in children (Hoque et al, 1996). A lack of clean water negatively impact women and girl's quality of life Doherty et al, 2007;Bornman et al, 2012;Sato et al, 2016;Gaspar et al, 2017;Vos et al, 2017;Angoua et al, 2018;Prado et al, 2019 Women may have reduced water security Bisung and Elliott, 2018 Women are the primary purveyors of water Hunter, 2006;Bornman et al, 2012;Holvoet et al, 2016;Geere et al, 2018 Sanitation and Hygiene…”

The Enabling Environment for Participation in Water and Sanitation: A Conceptual Framework

“…Access to information: Disseminating information in a clear and understandable manner (e.g., by posters and information leaflets in public places) is essential to facilitate people's engagement in decision-making processes (e.g., budget monitoring) [118]. Mobilization and awareness raising: Awareness raising contributes effectively to increase participation of specific groups, particularly since people lacking access to clean water are those who are less likely to seek support [119].…”