The power of water access and cash transfer programs on women’s empowerment in Ghana
Master of Arts graduate Julius Jebuni conducts critical research in his local community.
Estimated reading time: 2:26
Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is an issue that disproportionately impacts women and girls as they are often responsible for finding and collecting water for their households. This issue has a greater impact in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, where water access, solid waste receptacles and improved toilet facilities are not commonly present in households. The Upper West Region of Ghana is one of these areas; 80.7% of households do not have access to drinking water sources located less than 30 minutes away.
In 2008, the government of Ghana launched Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), which transferred cash to extremely poor and vulnerable households and provided connections to social services like health insurance and microfinance schemes. The program was created to help reduce poverty and included households with and without direct access to WASH.
Julius Jebuni, a recent Master of Arts graduate from the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, grew up in the Upper West Region of Ghana. “After school, women and girls always fetched water, and I would go play football with my friends. I did not know at the time how gender-specific household chores affected their studies. When they slept in class due to being tired, or got bad grades, parents would blame them."
Jebuni chose the Faculty of Environment for graduate studies because of its integrative approach to tackling tough sustainability challenges, including WASH issues that impact Ghana.
His thesis, under the supervision of Dr. Susan Elliott, explored women’s experiences and empowerment through WASH and cash transfer programs post-COVID 19 in the Upper West region of Ghana. His research included interviews with local female community members from a variety of ages, religions, occupations, and those that did and did not receive LEAP.
The results from his research underscore the importance of access to water in the household. Women and girls are compelled to seek water due to social norms, but can experience challenges, including risks to their personal safety. For the households that received LEAP, the women felt more empowered and were more involved in household decisions. These decisions included sanitation, water expenditures and allocation. Cash transfer programs like LEAP improve the health and well-being of women by improving their decision-making power regarding WASH. To meet Social Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, it is necessary to acknowledge its inextricable link to Social Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.
“With my research, I saw a direct effect of water provision on the health and well-being of women and girls. I believe my research will not only contribute to empowering women and girls but also promote public awareness and understanding of the harm and risks of water insecurity, leading to improved access to socio-economic opportunities for them. That makes me so happy.”
Jebuni’s master’s degree in the Faculty of Environment gave him the opportunity to build social capital and hone his qualitative research skills. He will begin his PhD in Kinesiology and Health Studies this fall at Queen’s University, where his research will broadly focus on exploring the relationships between the environment, health and well-being.
