WOMEN, WATER AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE
Nurgul Djanaeva (Kyrgyzstan)
I live in Kyrgyzstan, a small mountainous country with a population of 5 million.
Kyrgyzstan is located in Central Asia and has common borders with Tajikistan,Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Our countries have also had many common challenges
during the decade--a long period of transition to a market economy. Kyrgyzstan has veryrich water resources--lakes, glaciers, mountain rivers, springs and underground water.
Water has many dimensions for Kyrgyzstan. It is used as energy resource, irrigation ofagricultural fields, industry and personal consumption. Having a lot of fresh andecologically pure water, people in Kyrgyzstan face many challenges in accessing water.
The problem is not the lack of water, but the poor water management at various levels.
Traditionally, during several decades we used to have quite good sanitary norms andstandards for drinking water. The poverty of the last decade has led to a decrease andloss in the quality of water management facilities for drinking and irrigation. Water
facilities have deteriorated tremendously. There is an increase in such diseases likevirus hepatitis, typhoid and diarrhea. Access to safe drinking water remains a key
development issue in the densely populated Ferghana Valley, shared by Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Around 60 percent of the 10 million people in the valley
have no safe water supply. About only 70 % of Uzbekistan was provided with safe water(Report on the Status of Women in Uzbekistan, 1999). In places with inefficient orabsent water infrastructure, the burden of bringing heavy water containers from a far
distance is on women. Very often in a village, there is only one water standpipe for thewhole area. Women's workload increases because in our society, cooking, washing,childcare and care of the elderly are all considered to be women's work. All of these
responsibilities require water. At the same time, this work is unpaid home work.
Women are the invisible victims of a poor water management system.
Water is not a problem in Kyrgyzstan and at the same time, it is a huge problem.
Having water resources has not led to meeting people's water needs. Our pure ecologicaldrinking water may be an excellent export product. But at this moment, even the local
population does not have water at a satisfactory level. Water is also a source of danger
to people's health. Why? Because the water management system and its facilities needinvestment and proper maintenance. Kyrgyzstan with its tiny budget is unable tomaintain effective water management system. Rivers and lakes are polluted byanthropogenesis and natural sources. People who suffer from a lack of access to fresh
drinking water are not investing much of their time and energy to solve the problem.
There are, however, local initiatives, supported by external donors, to address this issue.
Among them is a women's NGO in the Djalal-Abad province of Kyrgyzstan"Kairymdyluk", Central Asian Alliance for Water. With the CAAW project in the villageof Yambarak, the situation changed immensely after the CAAW built a water supply
system there in 2002. ''The number of cases of diseases is going down yearly and in 2003
there has not been any cases''. Ecological NGOs raise their concerns about waterpollution (Green Women, Environment Protection Foundation of Kyrgyzstan).
Recognition of water issues as part of the national poverty reduction program is an
important step.
Destroyed water infrastructure is now being reconstructed. Let me give you one
example. According to the UN report (2003) based on the survey of target villages in
Kyrgyzstan, 27 % of internationally funded projects for rehabilitation of social-economic
facilities were focused on water management facilities. This percentage shows the depthof the water problem. Local rural people can not bear themselves the full costs of radical
repair of drinking and irrigation water facilities. This makes people highly vulnerable
and dependent on external assistance. From a gender perspective, the water issue isclosely connected to the increased exploitation of women at home. A speciallydisadvantaged group is the rural poor women. Poverty doubles the burden ofdeteriorated health caused by the lack of fresh drinking water. Poor families do not havemoney for proper medical diagnosis and treatment.
Kyrgyzstan has enough water for producing hydroelectric power. At the same time, inmany villages and towns, people lack access to fresh drinking water, and water for
irrigation they also experience frequent cuts in electricity. Naryn is a province town
near the biggest hydro electro station in Kyrgyzstan. During the whole year, people arelimited to several hours of electricity. Who suffers the most in families? Definitely
women do because of their domestic roles. Women actually suffer from the intersectionof poverty, patriarchal traditions and low access to decision making. Women's
perspectives and experiences are not reflected in many country's programs and projects.
Their voices and experiences are not heard and taken into consideration because womencomprise only 7 - 10 % of major national, political and economic decision makers inKyrgyzstan.

Once again I would like to say that having enough natural water does not
automatically lead to an efficient water management system. It is strategicallyimportant to incorporate women's experiences, perspectives and vision into decision
making on water issues. Last year's experience in Central Asia showed that civil society
organizations and women's NGOs play key roles in the mobilization of the population toaddress community needs concerning wate