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Women for Water implementing SDG6 in Uganda
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Fisher Women lead access to WaSH in Uganda
Fisher communities are characterized by poor hygiene and lack of access to clean safe water and sanitation. They are among the world’s most marginalized communities: poverty and illiteracy levels are high and in Uganda many households are affected by HIV/AIDS. The communities largely depend on contaminated water of Lake Victoria. They live in semi-permanent structures and construction of facilities is expensive due to a high water table and rocky grounds. The communities consist of different cultures with different attitudes and behaviour towards hygiene and sanitation. Moreover, women and children are overburdened by searching water and caring for the sick due to water related diseases. They lose productive time and especially the girl child is vulnerable to harassment and sexual abuse during the search of water, next to losing time to study.
Katosi Women Development Trust (KWDT), a member of WfWP, addresses this situation by empowering women to take leading roles in creating access to and managing water and sanitation facilities. Women acquire skills and knowledge in construction work – for example tank masonry - , new technologies in WASH and good governance. Rainwater harvesting tanks and community wells are constructed for access to clean and safe water. Communities are supported with adequate sanitation facilities.
Marie-Stella-Maris Foundation through Aqua for All sponsors KWDT with an amount of € 82,817 in 2017/2018. Their own contribution is € 7,445 bringing the total budget to € 90,262. Women for Water Partnership is the connection between the sponsors and KWDT. The project directly supports 4,944 people to gain access to water and adequate sanitation, while addressing multiple SDG 5 and 6 targets.
Katosi Women Development Trust (KWDT), a member of WfWP, addresses this situation by empowering women to take leading roles in creating access to and managing water and sanitation facilities. Women acquire skills and knowledge in construction work – for example tank masonry - , new technologies in WASH and good governance. Rainwater harvesting tanks and community wells are constructed for access to clean and safe water. Communities are supported with adequate sanitation facilities.
Marie-Stella-Maris Foundation through Aqua for All sponsors KWDT with an amount of € 82,817 in 2017/2018. Their own contribution is € 7,445 bringing the total budget to € 90,262. Women for Water Partnership is the connection between the sponsors and KWDT. The project directly supports 4,944 people to gain access to water and adequate sanitation, while addressing multiple SDG 5 and 6 targets.
Groups in Nakisunga sub county during their training; they included Manyi ga balimi, Namaliga and Nakisunga women’s groups
How it works
Based on 20 years of experience, KWDT knows how to organise rural women into self-managed groups and how to overcome cultural and social norms that impede women’s engagement in development initiatives. Through the groups, KWDT increases women’s access to productive resources, skills and knowledge, resulting in creating incomes, accelerating rural economies and empowering women.
The groups also enable women to play an active role in gaining access to water, adequate sanitation and better hygiene which in turn improves the health of families and communities. The economically empowered women take on traditional male construction roles and become active independent decision makers. In addition, once equipped with knowledge and skills in hygiene and sanitation, they mobilise communities to holistically improve hygiene and sanitation in their communities. Their continued involvement in lobbying and advocacy on behalf of their communities, further elevates the status of these rural women and transforms their cultural identities.
KWDT brings together 561 members of whom 87% are women and 13% men. These members are organised in 19 groups. Currently KWDT has 4 groups on the waiting list to join the network. KWDT allows two groups every two years to join the network to give KWDT sufficient time to meet challenges that come with growth, to meet operation expenses of the new group as well as managing the competition for scarce resources among group members that are acquired in a revolving manner. KWDT covers 5 of the 17 sub counties in Mukono district with all sub counties bordering the lake, thus reaching out to the most WaSH needy communities of the fishing communities. By 2017 71,182 people were reached through the efforts of rural women.
Each of the groups has 4 women leaders, who guide the group on a daily basis. The WaSH committee has 7 members, democratically elected, following up all the hygiene and sanitation activities. Recently, KWDT restructured its group leadership process, allowing all the groups to change leadership at the same time of the year after three years, giving every member an opportunity to exercise their potential in leadership but also to share group responsibility.
In bi-weekly meetings respective KWDT groups discuss and decide about the project activities in their area, being actively involved in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation. Through the Coordination Committee, KWDT engages 76 leaders in quarterly meetings for monitoring and evaluation of the progress of group’s activities. The leaders give feedback to their fellow members and to KWDT staff on the progress of the project implementation, so it is also a learning exercise.
Based on 20 years of experience, KWDT knows how to organise rural women into self-managed groups and how to overcome cultural and social norms that impede women’s engagement in development initiatives. Through the groups, KWDT increases women’s access to productive resources, skills and knowledge, resulting in creating incomes, accelerating rural economies and empowering women.
The groups also enable women to play an active role in gaining access to water, adequate sanitation and better hygiene which in turn improves the health of families and communities. The economically empowered women take on traditional male construction roles and become active independent decision makers. In addition, once equipped with knowledge and skills in hygiene and sanitation, they mobilise communities to holistically improve hygiene and sanitation in their communities. Their continued involvement in lobbying and advocacy on behalf of their communities, further elevates the status of these rural women and transforms their cultural identities.
KWDT brings together 561 members of whom 87% are women and 13% men. These members are organised in 19 groups. Currently KWDT has 4 groups on the waiting list to join the network. KWDT allows two groups every two years to join the network to give KWDT sufficient time to meet challenges that come with growth, to meet operation expenses of the new group as well as managing the competition for scarce resources among group members that are acquired in a revolving manner. KWDT covers 5 of the 17 sub counties in Mukono district with all sub counties bordering the lake, thus reaching out to the most WaSH needy communities of the fishing communities. By 2017 71,182 people were reached through the efforts of rural women.
Each of the groups has 4 women leaders, who guide the group on a daily basis. The WaSH committee has 7 members, democratically elected, following up all the hygiene and sanitation activities. Recently, KWDT restructured its group leadership process, allowing all the groups to change leadership at the same time of the year after three years, giving every member an opportunity to exercise their potential in leadership but also to share group responsibility.
In bi-weekly meetings respective KWDT groups discuss and decide about the project activities in their area, being actively involved in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation. Through the Coordination Committee, KWDT engages 76 leaders in quarterly meetings for monitoring and evaluation of the progress of group’s activities. The leaders give feedback to their fellow members and to KWDT staff on the progress of the project implementation, so it is also a learning exercise.
Namanda Sharon, household tank beneficiary from Muterezzanda women’s group
Clean water
To increase the number of rural households’ access to clean safe water, construction of 10,000 litre rainwater harvesting tanks and community wells commenced in July 2017. Twenty-three out of the planned 24 tanks are installed and the last one is planned in May 2018. Households pay back the total amount for construction of tanks in small instalments in a period of 3 years. To ensure this, a committee is established to follow up on debt collection. In total 6,850,500 Ugandan Shilling is collected for the 24 tanks. The money is pooled in a fund to facilitate providing more tanks after the project period. KWDT’s current revolving fund supports 10 to 15 beneficiaries per year.
The construction of five water points is completed, benefitting 761 people. The wells are not linked to the revolving fund. The households contribute 1000 UG shilling per month to the water user committees to support the maintenance of the wells. The members of the water user committees are highly motivated, they have registered all households that use the wells and collect the user fees.
KWDT experiences that non-functionality of communal water sources is a common occurrence, especially on the wells constructed by local government. Out of the 61 shallow wells constructed by KWDT only 6 are not functional and these have been demolished due to road constructions and sand mining activities. The issue of non-functionality of most of the wells is more managerial than mechanical. The situation is caused by lack of establishment of management structures around the wells, inadequate training /sensitisation and lack of adequate information about the roles of water user committees. Establishment of committees and training ensures functionality of the water points to a large extend hence sustainability on the long run.
Safe sanitation
Fisher communities and schools lack sanitation facilities which results in open defection and poor health in these communities. The facilities are expensive and the government responsible for bringing the service to the people has always financial constraints leaving the problem to carry on over and over again. In this project nine schools applied and six schools were selected to receive sanitation facilities of the ventilated improved pit latrines (VIP) technology. Construction for the six facilities started with excavation of pits with assistance of the beneficiaries in August 2017 and was completed in October 2017. The masons were alternating between the schools in order to use the necessary curing time at some levels of the work effectively. In total 2,765 persons make use of these facilities.
To increase the number of rural households’ access to clean safe water, construction of 10,000 litre rainwater harvesting tanks and community wells commenced in July 2017. Twenty-three out of the planned 24 tanks are installed and the last one is planned in May 2018. Households pay back the total amount for construction of tanks in small instalments in a period of 3 years. To ensure this, a committee is established to follow up on debt collection. In total 6,850,500 Ugandan Shilling is collected for the 24 tanks. The money is pooled in a fund to facilitate providing more tanks after the project period. KWDT’s current revolving fund supports 10 to 15 beneficiaries per year.
The construction of five water points is completed, benefitting 761 people. The wells are not linked to the revolving fund. The households contribute 1000 UG shilling per month to the water user committees to support the maintenance of the wells. The members of the water user committees are highly motivated, they have registered all households that use the wells and collect the user fees.
KWDT experiences that non-functionality of communal water sources is a common occurrence, especially on the wells constructed by local government. Out of the 61 shallow wells constructed by KWDT only 6 are not functional and these have been demolished due to road constructions and sand mining activities. The issue of non-functionality of most of the wells is more managerial than mechanical. The situation is caused by lack of establishment of management structures around the wells, inadequate training /sensitisation and lack of adequate information about the roles of water user committees. Establishment of committees and training ensures functionality of the water points to a large extend hence sustainability on the long run.
Safe sanitation
Fisher communities and schools lack sanitation facilities which results in open defection and poor health in these communities. The facilities are expensive and the government responsible for bringing the service to the people has always financial constraints leaving the problem to carry on over and over again. In this project nine schools applied and six schools were selected to receive sanitation facilities of the ventilated improved pit latrines (VIP) technology. Construction for the six facilities started with excavation of pits with assistance of the beneficiaries in August 2017 and was completed in October 2017. The masons were alternating between the schools in order to use the necessary curing time at some levels of the work effectively. In total 2,765 persons make use of these facilities.
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Capacity development and vocational training
The training component is a major success factor in all programmes carried out by KWDT. The fact that many women are illiterate, does not hinder the implementation of a project. The activities are designed in such a manner that the project beneficiaries acquire the knowledge, skills and support to enable them to take their responsibilities. Training leads to effective, planning, implementation, monitoring and sustainability of the intervention. The plan was to train 76 group leaders in good governance and leadership skills, 161 WASH committee’s members in good wash governance principles, 38 masons in new masonry technologies, 35 water user committees to maintain and manage community water facilities, and 561 group members to work together to increase their access to water in their households and in the communities. During implementation in some cases less people participated in the training for all sorts of reasons, i.e. rainy season, handicaps, transport issues. On 27 June 2017, 61 KWDT group leaders were trained in leadership. Role plays, simulations and discussions created a highly participatory and engaging training session. The training revealed the need to conduct tailor made trainings for specific groups, such as a basic introduction for new leaders and a more in depth training for more experienced leaders. Participants gained confidence to coordinate a group, work as a team and in joint decision making. The training for masons took place on 10 July 2017 with 29 participants. Knowledge of the construction of tanks, especially advanced technology, was imparted and there was room to address challenges the women masons experience during the construction of tanks. Construction skills continue to empower women socially and economically. Some masons are sought after for their high-quality construction skills. They travel long distances from their communities to construct in areas beyond their group intervention. Incomes from construction have uplifted women from dependency. On 23 January 2018 a brief refresher training took place. The importance of checking the quality of materials quality was emphasized as well as the quantities needed. The women masons learned how to judge the exact measurements based on the quality of construction materials, the ground, etc. The status of the women masons changed in the community; they are now perceived as skilled masons with the capacity to teach others. |
The community of Bumbanja collects water from this open source that can only be
accessed by one person and the jerrycan can only be filled by drawing water using a
small container. Below is the completed well and children are being trained on how to
use the new well
Masons Training
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During the month of October 2017, 6 trainings were held in team building and working together as a group to effectively manage the sustainability of good WaSH practices. Six principles of team work were taught: goal setting, strategy planning, communication, commitment, 100% participation and trust. Role plays are used to demonstrate the importance of these principles and what happens if they are not respected.
The groups also discussed which principles are challenging and which principles seem more rooted in their own group and why. By the end of the trainings, groups were rejuvenated. The attendance of group training was below expectation. To address that situation some women with skills in training are facilitated to pass on the lessons to those who didn’t attend the original training. This is organized by the groups themselves and supported by KWDT staff. The first one took place on 7 November 2017.
On 23 January 2018, a training for WaSH committee members was conducted at the KWDT centre. The training brought together a total of 79 WaSH Committee members representing the 19 KWDT groups. The training covered basic information on the WaSH situation in Mukono district, and reviewed the roles of the WaSH committees. The responsibilities of the different committees, i.e. WaSH, WUC (Water User Committee) and WAC (Women Advocacy Club) were discussed as well as the challenges faced. There is a constant need for monitoring of WaSH resources and there are different systems in terms of standards and frequency. It was decided that each team tries their favorite system and later on compare experiences and results. Next, every WaSh committee received a book to capture information about the water sources during their quarterly visits.
On 23 February 2018 KWDT carried out a water user committee training on management of wells with 13 participants. Unfortunately, the WUC training was poorly attended due to change of the WUC members in some of the committees. The training covers the Uganda water sector guidelines for WUCs, the roles and responsibilities of the communities, responsibilities of all the positions held by the committee; records keeping, convening meetings, and collection of user fees. After the training participants were given books to start compiling lists of water users for each of the wells to be able to collect user fees and keep track of the number of users. It was agreed to have a follow up training and encourage non-participating members to join as well.
The groups also discussed which principles are challenging and which principles seem more rooted in their own group and why. By the end of the trainings, groups were rejuvenated. The attendance of group training was below expectation. To address that situation some women with skills in training are facilitated to pass on the lessons to those who didn’t attend the original training. This is organized by the groups themselves and supported by KWDT staff. The first one took place on 7 November 2017.
On 23 January 2018, a training for WaSH committee members was conducted at the KWDT centre. The training brought together a total of 79 WaSH Committee members representing the 19 KWDT groups. The training covered basic information on the WaSH situation in Mukono district, and reviewed the roles of the WaSH committees. The responsibilities of the different committees, i.e. WaSH, WUC (Water User Committee) and WAC (Women Advocacy Club) were discussed as well as the challenges faced. There is a constant need for monitoring of WaSH resources and there are different systems in terms of standards and frequency. It was decided that each team tries their favorite system and later on compare experiences and results. Next, every WaSh committee received a book to capture information about the water sources during their quarterly visits.
On 23 February 2018 KWDT carried out a water user committee training on management of wells with 13 participants. Unfortunately, the WUC training was poorly attended due to change of the WUC members in some of the committees. The training covers the Uganda water sector guidelines for WUCs, the roles and responsibilities of the communities, responsibilities of all the positions held by the committee; records keeping, convening meetings, and collection of user fees. After the training participants were given books to start compiling lists of water users for each of the wells to be able to collect user fees and keep track of the number of users. It was agreed to have a follow up training and encourage non-participating members to join as well.
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HIV/AIDS
Most of the rural communities are characterised by long distances to the water points, often 3km or more. The little water that is collected at household level is merely enough for human consumption and thus cannot be used for any other activity. When there is more water, KWDT promotes kitchen gardening at home to increase productivity and improve nutrition. This proves to be challenging for households without rain water harvesting facilities. The reuse of water for production will be explored. Moreover, access to water and sanitation reduces household expenditure on health and enables households mostly affected by HIV/AIDS to live a healthy life. 
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Nakaye Faridah can now easily feed her cow with water from her new ferrous cement tank on time before and after attending to her garden which increases milk production.
St. Jude primary school’s students in front of their new VIP toilet
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Ms. Nakalyango Prossy of Katosi Women Fishing & Development Association, a WaSH Committee member and Well Attendant of Bwanga Well says: “I wanted to stand for election for the post of Local Council 1 in the February 2017 elections. The people in my community told me they will not vote for me because I have been very strict to them as the Well attendant. I never allowed those who did not pay user fees fetch water from the well. politics influence the performance of the committees, as people seek political seats they are compromised on their roles as managers of the water sources for fear of losing votes”
