Coronavirus has increased demand for and consumption of water in households. At the same time this presents Water scarcity presents a challenge for women in rural areas and informal settlements. Rural women walk up to 30 kilometres to fetch water from rivers, dams and boreholes. This may mean that some rural family members minimise use of the water; exposing them to health risks. Urban slum women now spend up to an extra Kenya Sh120 daily on water, and those that can't afford to buy are reported to resort to the polluted city river. This article highlights the experiences of women in rural and urban Kenya in gathering water needed for their work and families in light of COVID-19. It illustrates the lived experience of additional burdens that the pandemic now places on them, affecting their livelihoods and their physical and mental wellbeing.
Poverty and health
The Covid-19 pandemic is hitting vulnerable people the hardest in both high- and low-income countries. At the same time, in areas where infection rates are currently lower and policies still taking shape, there is a window of opportunity for informed analysis to provide added value. With the help of its global network of experts, UNRISD is gathering and quickly analysing how well current government policies on Covid-19 in all countries and regions are responding to the needs of vulnerable people. The result will be evidence-based recommendations on how governments can make sure their Covid-19 response policies leave no one behind. There can be no one-size-fits all answers and national and local government policy making in different regions must also respond to different social, economic, political and cultural contexts.
Centre for Natural Resource Governance shared, with sorrow, news of the death of a Hwange woman after a tunnel she was using to sneak into Hwange Colliery Company Limited’s (HCCL) premises collapsed on her and her colleague. As Zimbabwe’s economy declines the Hwange Community now survives largely through several illicit activities, which include sneaking into the company premised through a tunnel to steal coking coke. The centre makes several recommendations. Firstly, that the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Women Affairs and Small to Medium Enterprises should immediately avail grants for income generating projects to support women in Hwange. This will help women who are not on formal employment to avoid risky livelihood options. They propose that the HCCL must provide safety and security measures that will inhibit people from illegally taking coal coke in their premises. HCCL should also fully implement safety, health and environment initiatives around their premises so that lives can be saved. The centre also recommends that the government provides social and economic security for women mining affected areas and that the Environmental Management Agency regularly monitors SHE compliance in all companies without bias.
This study determined the socioeconomic risk factors for overweight and obesity in non-pregnant adult Zimbabwean women. A cross-sectional study was conducted using the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey data on the adult female population aged 15 to 49. The weighted prevalence of overweight and obesity in adult females was 34% and 12% respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among women in Zimbabwe was high. The key social factors associated were older age, being married, being wealthy and using hormonal contraception. Having a higher education and being Christian also increased the risk of being obese and overweight respectively. The design of multi-faceted overweight and obesity reduction programs for women that focus on increasing physical activity and strengthening of social support systems are argued by the authors to be necessary to combat this epidemic.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread problem affecting all cultures and socioeconomic groups. This study explored the trends in prevalence and risk factors associated with IPV among Zimbabwean women of reproductive age (15–49 years) from 2005 to 2015, analysing data from the 2005/2006, 2010/2011 and 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Surveys. The prevalence of Intimate partner violence was found to have decreased from 45% in 2005 to 41% in 2010, and then increased to 43% in 2015. Some of the risk factors associated with Intimate partner violence were younger age, low economic status, cohabitation and rural residence. Educational attainment of women was not significantly associated with Intimate partner violence. The findings indicate that women of reproductive age are at high and increasing risk of physical and emotional violence. The authors argue that there is a need for an integrated policy approach to address the rise of IPV related physical and emotional violence against women in Zimbabwe.
Structural adjustment programmes of international financial institutions have typically set the fiscal parameters within which health policies operate in developing countries. Yet, a systematic understanding of the ways in which these programmes impact upon child and maternal health is currently lacking. This article systematically reviews observational and quasi-experimental articles published from 2000 onward in online databases and grey literature from websites of IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank. Studies were considered eligible if they empirically assessed the aggregate effect of structural adjustment programmes on child or maternal health in developing countries. Of 1961 items yielded through database searches, reference lists and organisations’ websites, 13 met the inclusion criteria. The authors found that structural adjustment programmes had a detrimental impact on child and maternal health. In particular, these programmes undermined access to quality and affordable healthcare and adversely impacted upon social determinants of health, such as income and food availability. According to the authors, the evidence suggests that a fundamental rethink is required by international financial institutions if low income countries are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on child and maternal health.
In 1972, disaster struck the coal mining town of Hwange killing 427 workers following an underground explosion at the No.2 Colliery, also known as Kamandama Mine, part of Hwange Colliery. Forty-seven years later, the author reports that the widows of the victims of the Kamandama mine disaster live in neglect and abject poverty. Following the death of their husbands, they were forced out of colliery houses to pave way for new workers and their families. Many who had no relatives in town moved to rural areas. In a commemoration to remember the women’s struggles, convened by Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) and Greater Hwange Residents Trust, with the support from Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, the surviving widows said that they are only remembered once per year, in June, when the mining town commemorate the Kamandama mine disaster. The widows called on the government and Hwange Colliery Company to compensate them and ensure they get improved access to health care. The CNRG called on the government of Zimbabwe, as the majority shareholder in Hwange Colliery Company Limited, to compensate the widows and ensure decent housing in the villages for them.
At the International Labour Conference, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde unveiled an institutional view on social spending that will guide Fund staff on social protection, health and education. This responds to an IMF Internal Evaluation Office report noting that the institution was increasingly out-of-step with “the rights-based approach to social protection espoused by UN agencies including the ILO.” The IMF view is primarily focused on social assistance. These benefits, generally targeted to the poorest, are often advocated by the IMF as a measure to mitigate its conditionality and policy advice including austerity and the expansion of regressive taxation such as Value-Added Taxes. The institutional view argues that regressive taxes can be offset by more progressive social transfers. The Fund’s approach to social assistance and reducing spending has led to the promotion of narrow targeting through proxy means testing in many developing countries that erroneously excludes large numbers of recipients. The difficulties of narrow targeting are acknowledged but do not result in a clear change in policy. The International Labour Conference discussion of the General Survey concerning the Social Protection Floors Recommendation No. 202 highlighted how pressures from the IMF to cut social spending and the wage bill in public sector workers and to reduce the coverage of social protection have impeded the ability of states to deliver on their commitment to deliver adequate, comprehensive social protection systems consistent with ILO standards. In the past, the IMF has been more open to social protection floors, working jointly with the ILO after 2010 to support financing of national floors. Throughout the creation of the institutional view, the ITUC advocated for the IMF to support countries in financing comprehensive social protection systems and close coordination with the ILO.
In this paper the authors sought to determine the level of men’s involvement in antenatal care and the factors influencing their involvement in these services. A cross sectional study of 966 randomly selected men aged 18 years or older was conducted in Dodoma Region, from June 2014 to November 2015. Face to face interviews were conducted using a pretested structured questionnaire. The level of men’s involvement in antenatal care was high and 89% of respondents made joint decisions on seeking antenatal care. More than half of respondents accompanied their partners to the antenatal clinic at least once. Less than a quarter of men were able to discuss issues related to pregnancy with their partner’s health care providers, although 77% of respondents provided physical support to their partners during the antenatal period. Factors influencing men’s involvement in antenatal care were occupation, ethnicity, religion, waiting time, information regarding men’s involvement in antenatal care and men’s perception about the attitude of health care providers. Overall, more than half of respondents reported high involvement in antenatal care services. Access to information on men’s involvement, religion, occupation, ethnicity, waiting time and men’s perception about the attitude of care providers were significant factors influencing men’s involvement in antenatal care services in this study. The authors observe that health promotion is needed to empower men with essential information for meaningful involvement in antenatal care services.
Worldwide, more than two million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases. Poor hygiene and unsafe water are responsible for nearly 90 per cent of these deaths and mostly affect children. A study by the World Bank Group, UNICEF and the World Health Organization estimates that extending basic water and sanitation services to unserved households would cost US$28.4 billion per year from 2015 to 2030, or 0.1 per cent of the global product of the 140 countries included in its study. The economic impact of not investing in water and sanitation costs 4.3 per cent of sub-Saharan African GDP. The paper recommends that civil society organizations work to keep governments accountable, invest in water research and development, and promote the inclusion of women, youth and indigenous communities in water resources governance.