PERSISTENT water shortages in some of Harare’s high-density areas are negatively affecting women and girls some of whom have to drop out of school to look for water, a report by the Women’s Coalition in Zimbabwe (WCOZ) has shown.
BY SENIOR REPORTER
The report, released early this week, noted that women were the most affected as they looked after the well-being of their families.
“Since women are the principal caregivers and rely on the scarce resource for the upkeep of their homes and nurturing of their children, they are worst affected by water scarcity,” reads the report.
“Women living in Harare’s Budiriro 2 high-density suburb are increasingly frustrated by persistent water shortages in the area. The daily struggle to look for clean and safe water means women spend long hours trying to secure this basic resource for their households, in addition to other domestic duties.” WCOZ added that the water crisis also posed serious health problems to women and girls.
“The water crisis poses a serious lifetime health problem to women who spend an estimated 60% of their time and daily energy collecting water, walking long distances and following queues,” reads part of the report.
“The weight of water that these women carry ranges from 25 litres to 50 litres. A recent medical research at Medical Labs posted on women’s forum.com shows that women who carry huge containers of water are most likely to suffer from chronic fatigue, spinal and pelvic abnormalities.”
