Rural women still have to toil everyday under harsh conditions just to get water.

 

 

   The messages that follow tell an altogether different story.

   “He beats me if there isn’t enough water for him to take a bath,” says a female voice.

   Another adds, “In sickness or good health, or even during the last few days of pregnancy we have to fetch water, there’s no getting out of it.”

   “The doctor told me I lost my child because I was lifting weights. I’ve been asked to rest even though now I cannot afford that,” the voice continues.

   “I have to carry heavy utensils, otherwise who will do it?” says another voice. She adds, “It’s not a man’s job, women have done it always.”

   These rural women from different parts of the country are discussing the issue of water use and its management in Pakistan in one programme of a 10-part radio series now ready for broadcast.

   The programme – Pani ki kahani, aurat ki zubani (Water stories from women) – is an attempt to use radio to bring gender into public debate.

   The programmes have interviews, features and discussions that revolve around water as the unifying theme and project the aspirations of women on the issues discussed – from the chores associated with rural living to public policy on water use. 

   The programmes are produced by Uks, an Islamabad-based NGO, in collaboration with Panos South Asia, an organisation that works on media development.

   The programmes (15 minutes each) are to be broadcast on FM stations across Pakistan.

   According to an Asian Development Bank report, Pakistan’s water supply coverage is among the best in South Asia – 95 percent in urban areas and about 87 percent in the villages – and the rural coverage is expected to grow to over 90 percent by 2015.

   However, gender roles relating to water use remain unchanged, particularly in rural areas.

   “We try to prod and challenge stereotypical perceptions and urge people to look at issues through a developmental lens,” says Ahmar.

   Pakistan began licensing FM radio in 1988 and even though the stations are largely entertainment-oriented, they have large audiences.

   The FM stations were used extensively to cover rescue and rehabilitation during the earthquake in October 2005 and now Uks wants to try using them for reporting issues that tend to get “missed” by the mainstream press.

   “The series provide an opportunity for telling stories and showing people what their society is all about in order to help them understand what needs to be changed and how,” says Ahmar. 

   Radio provides the perfect medium to pierce the “curtain” of illiteracy and other social taboos to spread awareness on issues like health, domestic violence – and even difficult subjects like HIV/AIDS, prostitution and drug abuse and Uks has been doing just that.

   Because FM is local, it has also provided the people without access to national media an opportunity to discuss matters related to their lives in public space.

   “Water is very important to women but they do not have the voice needed to influence water policies,” says Ahmar. “We went around the country to cover issues relating to women and water, from migration to mobility, to health, hygiene and employment,” she adds.

    Women make up about 48 percent of Pakistan’s 150 million people and as in most developing countries, they are required to collect firewood and fodder, work in the farms, raise children and care for their in-laws and extended families.

   “Much of their sufferings can be attributed to water and its availability,” says Ahmar. “Lack of adequate water, limited or hazardous access and poor quality affect their mental, emotional, physical and reproductive health,” she adds.

   The issue about water quality and universal access are close to women, and the real picture is often masked by the statistics.

   A nationwide survey by the Network for Consumer Protection last year said only 19.4 percent Pakistanis have access to “clean and safe” drinking water and more than 77 percent of the rural population relies on sources such as pumps, tubewells, streams, ponds and lakes.

   “We need to find answers to how much water we have, where is it coming from, how is it being used,” Simi Kamal of the Global Water Partnership says in one of the radio programmes.

   “The tragedy is those who make policies never had to walk, sometimes as far as 12 kilometres, one way, under scorching heat with a couple of water-filled pitchers on their heads,” she adds. “They have absolutely no idea about how much time is wasted or how the health of these women is affected.”

   Ahmar adds that bringing the voice of women into public debate is an achievement in itself. That these women are talking about water is a bonus because it is something that directly affects their wellbeing.

   Says Ahmar: “An earlier 15-minute series on poverty, peace and justice was so well received that the FM station broadcasting it had to increase the time slot to take in more live phone calls.”

   Uks is hoping the water series would generate a similar, if not a better response.

(END/AWW/IPSAP/ZE/BB/100506)