‘World Water Day 2017’

Access to water and sanitation facilities for small farmers, agriculture workers and rural women.

Climate change, urbanization with growing population are associated effect on the quality and supply to pre urban and rural communities where water resources are stressed and surface pollution from toxic metal, organic materials and other pollutants is widespread.

Naturally occurring arsenic in shallow groundwater threatens the health of millions of people. This is particularly problematic for rural people specially women and working poor communities as arsenic contamination mainly exists outside of the cities.

High salinity in surface and ground water have become a major problem in Bangladesh Here the groundwater levels continue to decline at a rate of up to 9 feet per year. People in the saline-prone area have been facing the crisis of drinking water for the years. Saline water has intruded into rivers and other water bodies and results acute crisis of safe drinking water and water for irrigation, affecting thousands of people as well as small farmers, agriculture workers, women and rural poor.

The people of remote mountain areas in the Hill Tracts are also facing the same drinking water shortage and agony for water particularly in the dry season for many years. There are no proper sanitation facilities to hilly areas. There are many areas in those areas which have no tube-well within miles of the localities. In some areas, tube-wells have been gone out of water for many years and many areas where the tube-wells are in order, but no water. So, the women of the localities would have to depend on sources of surface water such as waterfall, canal and ponds which is impure and unsafe for drinking. Thus the people of the hilly areas suffer from water related diseases after drinking the water.

Carrying water for drinking and household use is time-consuming and troublesome job. In the family, women, mainly, do this task of water management. The women have to spend about 4-5 hours per day to collect water depending on the season and region. In saline prone area women have to walk about 2km twice to fetch to pitchers of water from the nearest pond. Climbing up the hills with jars full of water from the plane land by women and girls is a common picture of the remote mountainous areas in Chittagong Hill Tracts. Specially, the responsibility of water supply for sanitation lay with the women. It affects their health, education, rest and relaxation.

Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation (BAFLF) and National Women Farmers and Workers Association (NWFA) observed World Water Day 2017 with the slogan ‘SAFE WATER & SANITATION IS OUR HUMAN RIGHT!’ On the occasion BAFLF & NWFA jointly arranged a rally as a part of starting campaign for access to water and sanitation facilities for small farmers, agriculture workers and rural women.