Final Post

And here we are at the end! The process of writing this blog has been incredibly fulfilling on both an academic and personal level. At the beginning of the blog writing process I certainly wasn't entirely sure how specifically the blog would unfold but with interludes of newsflashes on COP26 and common themes running through such as vulnerability and a country focus on Kenya, hopefully through this series you have been able to better understand the relationship between water and gender in Africa today.

I'd now like to mention some brief takeaways from thoughts developed throughout blogposts:

In my first blog post, I spoke of the desire to employ an interdisciplinary lens throughout my analysis; through reading paper's such as the one by Mona Daoud about whether vulnerability to climate change is gendered I was able to see the employment of previously learnt gender studies concepts such as "performances of gender" in a new field of study, leading to a better understanding of the need for intersectional education particularly with regards to areas such as disaster risk management. 

Put most effectively, tragedy strikes from the onset when society fails to recognise the vulnerabilities associated with gender and concerning disasters, way before disasters themselves occur (O'Mathúna, Dranseika & Gordijn, 2018) This blog series has made me reflect on the importance of inclusion of all stakeholders with regards to progress with regards to advancements in gender and water; whether that be through better female representation at COP26 or the inclusion of females in decision making processes within governance. 

Further, another reflection I have made during this blogging series is that whilst I talk of the problems that exist with regards to water and gender in Africa, there still is room for further discussion regarding solutions. In my blog post regarding sexual and gender based violence, I speak of a Feminist Political Ecology of Health framework used to deconstruct the socio-cultural and power relations that exist within Kenya's water crisis. Whilst this framework has strong academic underpinnings, I am keen to better understand the inferences of frameworks like such into real world practice.  

Whilst novel, this comic accurately portrays the loss of opportunity ravaging the futures of many of the females spoken about in this blog-series

Source: World Bank 

Overall, whilst some of the topics discussed in the blogposts such as Gender Based Violence undoubtedly have a rather unpleasant/uncomfortable tone, the change we have seen at least on the agendas of local governments, and say the water coalition created at COP26 brings some avenue for hope. This experience has left me hungry to discover more with regards to gender and water and by this I mean not just focusing on "women" like in this series but rather also men and the wider LGBTQ+ spectrum and better understand the power relations and social norms that exist. For now, this document about gender identity noting the gaps in the human rights to water and sanitation for LGBTQ+ people provides a good starting point. 

Whilst the quantity of literature surrounding gender and water is positively growing, what needs to be done now is implement the case study findings, implications and frameworks into practice. For now, I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have writing it.