How the lack of inclusive waterpoints creates challenges for vulnerable people in coastal Bangladesh

27th August 2024
by Fahreen Hossain, Senior Research Associate, REACH WISER

 

In rural Satkhira, a division located on the coastal belt of Bangladesh, accessing safe water is an everyday challenge, with poverty and environmental conditions creating hindrances that have implications for the most vulnerable sectors of society. My recent work in Satkhira district aimed to understand the water access challenges and coping mechanisms of people with disabilities and women at different stages of life. 

In 2022, I visited 5 unions in Satkhira district to conduct Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews (KII). Key informants included officials working in Union Parishad (local government), school teachers, and local NGOs. They described the climatic challenges that increase water insecurity. Similar to other coastal zones of Bangladesh, these areas are regularly battered by cyclones and storm surges causing increased salinity in wells and ponds. During the dry season, the water table falls, creating water scarcity. 

Around 90% of women and girls living in Bangladesh are responsible for collecting water for domestic usage (Livani et al., 2021), meaning that climate-related water insecurity has a particular impact on women. Focus group discussions included adolescent girls, pregnant women, new mothers, mothers with young children, elderly women, and people with physical disabilities. In most places, elderly women no longer go to collect water unless they have no family members. They pass on the duty of the household water collection to unmarried daughters, daughters-in-law, or granddaughters whilst taking on childcare or guarding the house instead. Adolescent girls accompany their mothers to fetch water; they are seen collecting water early in the morning before going to school or on their way back. Most girls are still expected to collect water while suffering from menstrual cramps – they say there is no other choice.  Similar issues were found for pregnant women or new mothers – they were expected to rest, but due to the family structure (lack of other people able or expected to help e.g. elderly relatives, busy husbands were mentioned) many were forced to continue to fulfill the task of water collection along with other chores. 

 

Image credit: Fahreen Hossain

 

Due to regular flood risk, water points and other infrastructure such as toilets are built on raised platforms, which creates particular challenges for people with disabilities and heavily pregnant women. I would like to share two case studies to illustrate this point. The names have been changed to respect the privacy of research participants.

53- year-old Aneema was never married. She has a physical disability, and is the sole carer of her elder brother who was also living with a disability. She is responsible for all chores and collected water from her younger brother’s house, 5 minutes walk away, although it takes her longer to cross the distance. The water point is on a raised platform with wooden stairs. Aneema had requested her younger brother to install a railing and more stable stairs as she is afraid of falling. However, he refused to do so since it would be expensive.

 

23-year-old Shapla was 7 and a half months pregnant. She had moved back to her parent’s village in preparation to give birth, as was customary in her in-law’s family. During the focus group discussion, she requested to leave early to collect water to avoid a long queue at the water point. Afterwards, I saw her coming back with two containers filled with water, and joined her on the walk back to her house. Shapla told me that her mother had died a few years back, and her father was quite old and lived alone. Her paternal aunt lives next door and takes care of her father, but while she was here, she was doing all the chores, as she wished to lessen her aunt’s burden. Shapla said that at her in-law’s, there was a water point on the premises, so she could request that her husband or other sisters-in-law to get water when needed. But there was no one except for her aunt here, and her father could not afford to set up a water source on the premises. There was a Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant nearby, but one had to pay to get water from it, so she had to walk for 15 minutes to collect water from a communal tube well. The steps to the well are steep and mossy. She has already slipped once and is quite cautious now for fear of hurting her unborn child.

 

There were other similar stories.  People with physical disabilities voiced their unhappiness at having to depend on other people for all tasks including using sanitation facilities and collecting water. They expressed resignation and fear while maneuvering access to water points and toilets. 

 

Image credit: Fahreen Hossain

In the focus groups, we also discussed what people’s opinions were about providing help to people in need in the community. Most participants were quite vocal that it was a godly act or a moral obligation to provide help, even without being asked. However, when probed about at what point it gets hard to support vulnerable people, some common replies were:

  • ‘When someone needs to be helped every day who is not our family member, that is not possible.’
  • ‘Also, during cyclones, or the dry season. It is hard to manage water for our own family.’
  • ‘How can we help during the tough times?’
  • ‘We are trying to survive to the best of our abilities, it is not possible for us to help others.’

 

These case studies illustrate the challenges faced by women and people with disabilities. Improving water infrastructure to allow everyone to benefit from it is important to improve equitable access. As Trish Robichaud remarked in a recent LinkedIn post: ‘Accessible infrastructure goes beyond physical accommodation; it’s about fostering a culture of equality and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to navigate the world independently and with dignity. Accessible infrastructure is not only beneficial for people with disabilities but for the whole society and the economy as a whole. It can improve the quality of life, well-being, and happiness of all citizens, especially the elderly, pregnant women, children, and people with temporary impairments.’ To fulfill the equity, quality, and sustainability demanded by the Sustainable Development Goals to which they are committed, national governments must tread through more in-depth and complex multisectoral and integrated development mechanisms.

I believe that virtually all the problems in the world come from inequality of one kind or another

Amartya Sen, 1979

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