Waving Goodbye: Personal Reflections on Water and Sanitation in Africa.

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Waving Goodbye: Personal Reflections on Water and Sanitation in Africa.

When beginning this blog series, the theme of Water and Sanitation in Africa stood out to me particularly given it’s importance- it is a basic human right that unfortunately 1/3 of the global population does not enjoy. The 6th Sustainable Development Goal clearly identifies the necessity of Clean Water and Sanitation for all, yet despite this, the sanitation deficit across the globe are alarming and require serious attention- even more so at a time when we are experiencing a global pandemic.

Over the course of this blog, I have tried to explore a range of Water and Sanitation problems in Africa, and opportunities for how to tackle them. But the common denominator for all the possible solutions I discuss is community engagement. Whether it be through capacity building and empowering them with the right tools and support, or introducing low-cost, innovative facilities- all we need to start progressing in the right direction is a bottom-up orientated approach. This includes working closely with communities to help understand their needs, as well as helping them understand the importance of water and sanitation for their well-being. I strongly believe that the merits of participatory development are wide-ranging and long-term, and especially advantageous for marginalised groups such as women (Guijt,1998).

When thinking about ‘Water and Sanitation’, I associated it with hands, and so I deliberately wanted to incorporate this theme of “safe hands” throughout the blog. It was a symbolic approach to emphasise not only the importance of hygiene, but also question in whose hands do the solutions lie in. The positioning and gestures of a hand can give powerful insights, which is why each post was introduced with a hand picture to encourage the reader to reflect on the post they were about to engage with: the actors involved, the attitudes to the subject or however they chose to perceive it.

Now, having come to the end of this blogging journey, I have grown more optimistic towards Water and Sanitation in Africa. Despite the vast complexities to the issues I have touched upon over this series, which are of course overwhelming and shocking, I’ve also learnt about that we know how to solve these problems! It’s really just a matter of taking action and directing resources effectively. We are fast approaching 2030, yet there is still a lot to do before we successfully achieve SDG 6. But I am hopeful, because the solutions to Water and Sanitation in Africa really are in OUR hands.

 

 

 


Comments

  1. Sophia Saeed5 January 2021 at 15:13

    Great blog Hamnah, the safe hands photograph really resonated well with me too. I am optimistic, but it may take a long time to see sanitation for all in Africa.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lana Khan7 January 2021 at 01:45

    This is so well wrapped up, with a personal touch and a final emphasis on the theme you had set out to achieve- which I think you did amazingly well. I really enjoyed reading the unique perspectives and angles you decided to bring into this blog series! Well done Hamnah!

    ReplyDelete

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