Although it is not easy to pin down all of the underlying challenges limiting the
capability of women in SSA, it is safe to say that the lack of access to legal rights,
land tenure, sexual and reproductive health services, as well as constraints related to
freedom of mobility (World Bank 2014; UNDP 2016). Women and girls also
generally have limited control over resources and are disproportionally involved in
unpaid care work, making it not only difficult to obtain decent livelihoods and selfcare but also restrain their active participation in the labour market (UNDP 2016).
Pervasive gender discrimination and legal injustices are still the norm in many
countries across the region in various aspects related to financial inclusion and
inheritance rights. For example, in Kenya, married men who hold M-Pesa and
M-Shwari mobile banking accounts with Safaricom cannot legally name their
wives as beneficiaries, meaning that widows cannot access or automatically claim
their deceased husbands’ bank accounts (World Bank 2014). Even though many
states and regional bodies have put in place a wide array of legal norms, precedents
and legislation promoting gender equality, there are major challenges in ensuring
that these standards are advocated, accepted and integrated into national laws and
regulations, and then fully implemented and enforced (UNDP 2016). This gap
between legal rights and expectations, with prevailing practices and behaviours
embedded in social and cultural norms pose perhaps the greatest challenge for
accelerating gender equality across SSA (UNDP 2016; World Bank 2014).
1.2.6 SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Safe water and sanitation are vital for human health, social dignity, healthy ecosystems and productive livelihoods, but their lack is very prevalent in rural and informal
urban settlements across the continent. Even though the proportion of the SSA
population that has access to at least one safe source of water has increased from
17.9% in 2000 to 23.7% in 2015, this is much lower than the global average (71.2%
in 2015) (UNECA 2018). Despite the lack of comparable and consistent data
between countries, it is believed that more than 70% of the regional population
does not have access to basic sanitation facilities, with the rates being higher in some
countries such as Ethiopia and DRC (Fig. 1.7). Furthermore, less than half of the
population has access to at least basic sanitation infrastructure in 39 countries (as low
as 7.1% in Ethiopia), with great divides between urban and rural population
(UNECA 2018).
Population growth, inadequate financing, rapid urbanization, growing water
scarcity, uneven distribution of water resources, extreme climate change, water
pollution and improper utilization are some of the main challenges that potentially
undermine the achievement of water and sanitation SGD targets in SSA (Mugagga
and Nabaasa 2016; Dos Santos and Gupta 2017; UNECA 2018). At the same time,
the inadequate access to clean water and sanitation could compromise the achievement of multiple other SDGs related to health, education and poverty reduction,
especially for women and girls. For example, women and girls are disproportionately
16
D. Juju et al.
capability of women in SSA, it is safe to say that the lack of access to legal rights,
land tenure, sexual and reproductive health services, as well as constraints related to
freedom of mobility (World Bank 2014; UNDP 2016). Women and girls also
generally have limited control over resources and are disproportionally involved in
unpaid care work, making it not only difficult to obtain decent livelihoods and selfcare but also restrain their active participation in the labour market (UNDP 2016).
Pervasive gender discrimination and legal injustices are still the norm in many
countries across the region in various aspects related to financial inclusion and
inheritance rights. For example, in Kenya, married men who hold M-Pesa and
M-Shwari mobile banking accounts with Safaricom cannot legally name their
wives as beneficiaries, meaning that widows cannot access or automatically claim
their deceased husbands’ bank accounts (World Bank 2014). Even though many
states and regional bodies have put in place a wide array of legal norms, precedents
and legislation promoting gender equality, there are major challenges in ensuring
that these standards are advocated, accepted and integrated into national laws and
regulations, and then fully implemented and enforced (UNDP 2016). This gap
between legal rights and expectations, with prevailing practices and behaviours
embedded in social and cultural norms pose perhaps the greatest challenge for
accelerating gender equality across SSA (UNDP 2016; World Bank 2014).
1.2.6 SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Safe water and sanitation are vital for human health, social dignity, healthy ecosystems and productive livelihoods, but their lack is very prevalent in rural and informal
urban settlements across the continent. Even though the proportion of the SSA
population that has access to at least one safe source of water has increased from
17.9% in 2000 to 23.7% in 2015, this is much lower than the global average (71.2%
in 2015) (UNECA 2018). Despite the lack of comparable and consistent data
between countries, it is believed that more than 70% of the regional population
does not have access to basic sanitation facilities, with the rates being higher in some
countries such as Ethiopia and DRC (Fig. 1.7). Furthermore, less than half of the
population has access to at least basic sanitation infrastructure in 39 countries (as low
as 7.1% in Ethiopia), with great divides between urban and rural population
(UNECA 2018).
Population growth, inadequate financing, rapid urbanization, growing water
scarcity, uneven distribution of water resources, extreme climate change, water
pollution and improper utilization are some of the main challenges that potentially
undermine the achievement of water and sanitation SGD targets in SSA (Mugagga
and Nabaasa 2016; Dos Santos and Gupta 2017; UNECA 2018). At the same time,
the inadequate access to clean water and sanitation could compromise the achievement of multiple other SDGs related to health, education and poverty reduction,
especially for women and girls. For example, women and girls are disproportionately
16
D. Juju et al.