Access to clean drinking water is an important human right. Without that access can be detrimental to people leading to major health and other risks. In Kibera, data suggests that living conditions have either deteriorated or at best stagnated over the 1999–2009 period. The massive urbanization in Kibera has lead to the mass informal settlements around Nairobi and, also, unequal access to water. Access to water can be scarce but the problem concerning water is not as one of water scarcity but of unequal distribution.
The lack of amenities in Kibera has lead to families relying on the informal economy to provide for water and other sanitization resources. This situation exemplifies the spatial disparities for access to clean drinking water within Kibera and Nairobi. Often, women are led to get the water for the household. As seen in the photo, water is scarce and women and children have to purchase water in 20-litre, yellow plastic jerry cans from water vendors.
Via Flickr
WOMEN’S LENS
Women play a strong role in supporting the family for that access to water whilst the divide occurs in Kibera. They are the principal managers of natural resources, which they and their families rely on for their livelihoods. For the women of Kibera, access to clean drinking water directly affects them as they need to have access to clean water in order to live and support their families. The bare minimum of access includes activities for domestic use, usually meant for drinking, cooking, washing utensils, and basic hygiene. Due to the scarcity of water in Kibera, it is more vital to have access in clean water, especially as the city continues to develop and further spatializing the socio-economic divide for women to have access to the amenities for their families.
Mudege, N.N. & Zulu, E.M., 2011. Discourses of illegality and exclusion: When water access matters. Global Public Health, 6(3), pp.221–233.
Crow, B. & Odaba, E., 2010. Access to water in a Nairobi slum: women’s work and institutional learning. Water International, 35(6), pp.733–747.
Figueiredo, P. & Perkins, P.E., 2013. Women and water management in times of climate change: participatory and inclusive processes. Journal of Cleaner Production, 60, pp.188–194.
Ray, I., 2007. Women, Water, and Development. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 32, pp.421–449.