Addressing the grey areas of gender water and sanitation problems in informal settlements

I particularly want to dedicate this post to explore gender sanitation strategies in informal settlements after the seminar on urban sanitation as it provided me with insights into the role of market-based sanitation strategies initiated in the challenges faced by informal settlements ie. Temporality of landscape linked with political unwillingness, high population densities and land rights. This links back to my findings in the 2^nd post that access to water affects women disproportionately in informal settlements. I will evaluate existing sanitation strategies in empowering women, particularly the Peepoo bags, Sanergy toilets and Iko toilet in the Nairobi slums in Kenya.

To contextualize the issues with gender and water sanitation in informal settlements, I will begin with an overview of the macro to micro development of sanitary systems in East Africa and the Kibera slum of Narobi respectively.

Since the post-colonial era, water supply servicing and waste collection systems shifted to market-led reform for its efficiency, productivity and new technologies in generating profits from new uses for human waste, hence reduced the  involvement of government agencies in figure 1.0 (OKeef, 2015).

Figure 1.0 Bill and Melinda Gates sanitation value chain (Gates, 2010)

In the near absence of government, the services for water and sanitation are fragmented. In the Naorobi slums, sanitation is self-funded or small service providers are employed to construct sanitation facilities, this has exacerbated the disparity in water coverage. Currently, 50% of households share latrines, with 45% using public pay-per use facilities and 5% with private latrines (OKeef, 2015). However as the user pay toilets are longer distances away and closed at night, it is difficult for women to access sanitation facilities. “Flying toilets” are a common practice ie. defecating into a bag and tossing it in the air landing on neighbor’s roofs and leading to a sustaining cycle of cross contamination of food and water resources.

In 2015, Kenya agreed to reach the MDG of halving the proportion of its population without sanitation, but significantly missed its target by not addressing the needs for women living informal settlements.

Below are some of the main challenges faced in the Naorobi Slums

·      Narrow streets and muddy roads –limited space for infrastructure construction

·      Lack of political unwillingness for long term water and sanitation development -the Kenyan government declared the demolition and rehousing of residents in slums in 2009, making it difficult for NGOs to secure land rights to further establish sanitation systems

·      Residents possess de fecto tenure - 85% of households as tenant, land lords with the incentive of maximizing incomes prioritize building more homes over installing sanitation facilities (Münch, 2009)

Pee-poo bags

The pee-poo bag is a biodegradable single-use toilet made of 45% renewable materials and can be used as a fertilizer once buried (Münch, 2009) shown in figure 1. It empowers women as a low cost, immediate and requires little maintenance solution. In the Silanga slums, women are reported as the highest frequent users of pee-poo bags allowing them to use the latrine at their own convenience in privacy at home, reducing the risks of diseases from the unsanitary conditions of public toilets and sexual abuse. It also provides an economic opportunity for female micro-entrepreneurs in selling these bags in kiosks. It is an effective short-term panacea for women due to accessibility and convenience, however does not fulfill the full chain of sanitation, such as washing hands and menstrual management. It is also not fully sustainable in its distribution, collection and marketed to be used as fertilizers.

Figure 1.1 Pee-poo bags function (PEEPOOPLE, 2010)

Sanergy

Compared to the pee-poo bags, Sanergy introduced “Fresh Life” squat toilets in the Naorobi slums, a sanitation model that is a close to being a fully sustainable system including the logistics for micro financing, distribution and processing (Figure 2.0, 2.1) For women, this sanitation model offers a full chain of sanitary facilities for at a pay per–use price, including a hand wash container, sanitary towels and saw dust to eliminate water usage for flushing. Hygiene standards are also up kept as the price is inclusive of providing staff with training and supplies for cleaning and daily waste collection by Sanergy staff. According to an interview with a “Fresh Toilet” entrepreneur, Wekesa said that cleanliness is the main-point for its users, female consumers appreciate the touches of a mirror provided on the toilet doors (Ni, 2012). Other women has pointed out that they felt safe to use the toilets, particularly placed in residential areas with the planned expansion of increasing its presence in high density areas such as schools and markets.

Additionally, the micro-finance scheme partnered up with Kiva, empowers women in sanitation and economically. For instance, Kwamboka (Figure 2.2), a female land lord and Fresh Life Toilets operator purchased 2 units on micro discount in her residence and increased tenant’s rent by Ks500/ month to help settle loan repayment. The income provided for women allows further investment into personal sanitation facilities and education (Manson, 2013).

Despite providing a fully sustainable model for sanitation, the difficulty in its development lies in securing tenure rights to building sanitation facilities.

Figure 2.0 Fresh Life toilet interior in Kenya

Figure 2.1 Fresh life toilet waste collection

Figure 2.2 Kwamboka, female operator of “Fresh Life” toilets (Manson, 2011)

Iko toilet

Figure 3.0 Iko toilets

Unique from the aforementioned sanitation models, it is worth emphasizing image change in sanitation is just as important as providing the practicalities of sanitation facilities. The Iko toilets successfully transform the stigma of dirty toilets once rigged with violence and crime to a safe social space for women that embodies beauty in the urban environment. 

“When you walk into an Iko Toilet you will immediately notice the cleanliness as well as hear music playing to welcome you in. They are full bathrooms with multiple toilets, showers, and sinks that provide clean water and soap”. (Hydrate Life,2012)

This excerpt mentions the atmosphere in the toilets that portrays a welcoming attitude towards sanitation and not only allowing people to perform sanitation rituals but also to chat, and make purchases at the kiosks. The diversified economy also supports the operations and maintenance cost of the toilets.  Furthermore, each Iko toilet model provides full-time employment for 10 locals (UNDP, 2011).

Recognizing the importance of governance, it operates on a Build Operate Transfer model, handing the toilets over to municipal councils at zero costs to run after 5 years (UNDP, 2011).

The case studies has addressed sanitation problems faced by women in informal settlements through its pay per use models, innovative technologies to reduce use of water, treatment and processing of waste, which is self sustainable by locals. Although NGOs can provide a starting point in its sanitation models, the sustainability of sanitation relies on the government’s recognition of informal settlements beyond temporal structures. It can also be seen that micro-financing is important to engage women in sanitation management, starting from investment in kiosks and toilet blocks, which goes a long way to provide an extra income for women to invest in sanitation and alleviate them from poverty. Apart from addressing the functional practicalities of sanitation, transforming the image of sanitation is synonymous to giving women a right to safe and accessible sanitation.