1.
Weststrate, J., et al.
(författare)
The Sustainable Development Goal on Water and Sanitation : Learning from the Millennium Development Goals
2018
Ingår i: Social Indicators Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0303-8300 .- 1573-0921. ; , s. 1-16
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Target 7c of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 7c) aimed to halve the population that had no sustainable access to water and basic sanitation before 2015. According to the data collected by the Joint Monitoring Programme in charge of measuring progress towards MDG 7c, 2.6 billion people gained access to safe water and 2.3 billion people to basic sanitation. Despite these optimistic figures, many academics have criticised MDG 7c. We provide an overview of this critique by performing a systematic literature review of 62 studies conducted over the MDG implementation period (2002–2015) and shortly after. Our objective is to contribute to the debate on the operationalisation of the Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation (SDG 6). The academic debate on MDG 7c mainly focused on the effectiveness of the indicators for safe water and sanitation and on the political dynamics underlying the selection of these indicators. SDG 6 addresses some of the concerns raised on the indicators for safe water and sanitation but fails to acknowledge the politics of indicator setting. We are proposing additional indicators and reflect on the limitations of using only quantitative indicators to measure progress towards SDG 6.
2.
Lindersson, Sara, et al.
(författare)
The wider the gap between rich and poor the higher the flood mortality
2023
Ingår i: Nature Sustainability. - : Springer Nature. - 2398-9629.
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Economic inequality is rising within many countries globally, and this can significantly influence the social vulnerability to natural hazards. We analysed income inequality and flood disasters in 67 middle- and high-income countries between 1990 and 2018 and found that unequal countries tend to suffer more flood fatalities. This study integrates geocoded mortality records from 573 major flood disasters with population and economic data to perform generalized linear mixed regression modelling. Our results show that the significant association between income inequality and flood mortality persists after accounting for the per-capita real gross domestic product, population size in flood-affected regions and other potentially confounding variables. The protective effect of increasing gross domestic product disappeared when accounting for income inequality and population size in flood-affected regions. On the basis of our results, we argue that the increasingly uneven distribution of wealth deserves more attention within international disaster-risk research and policy arenas.
3.
Ahlers, R., et al.
(författare)
Unleashing Entrepreneurs or Controlling Unruly Providers? : The Formalisation of Small-scale Water Providers in Greater Maputo, Mozambique
2013
Ingår i: Journal of Development Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0022-0388 .- 1743-9140. ; 49:4, s. 470-482
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
The existing legal and policy framework regulating water service provision in Greater Maputo, Mozambique appears fixated on the official service areas. In doing so it inadequately addresses the geographically varied service provision modalities which characterise the city. We argue that the predominant legal and policy framework does little to support development of improved services in areas unserved by the formal utility. Although ad hoc measures recognising small-scale providers as a temporary alternative to service provision by a formal utility have been implemented, these measures appear designed to increase control over these providers rather than support the service delivery capacity of small-scale providers.
4.
Alda-Vidal, C., et al.
(författare)
Mapping operation and maintenance : an everyday urbanism analysis of inequalities within piped water supply in Lilongwe, Malawi
2018
Ingår i: Urban Geography. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0272-3638 .- 1938-2847. ; 39:1, s. 104-121
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
In this article, we analyze the production of inequalities within the centralized water supply network of Lilongwe. We use a process-based analysis to understand how urban infrastructure is made to work and explain the disparity in levels of service by tracing the everyday practices of those who operate the infrastructure. This extends existing analyses of everyday practices in relation to urban water inequalities in African cities by focusing on formal operators, rather than water users, and looking within the networked system, rather than outside it. Our findings show that these practices work to exacerbate existing water stress in poor areas of the city. We conclude with a reflection on how understanding these practices as the product of the perceptions, rationalizations, and interpretations of utility staff who seek to manage the city’s (limited) water as best they can offers insight into what is required for a more progressive urban water politics.
5.
Alda-Vidal, C., et al.
(författare)
Occupational genders and gendered occupations : the case of water provisioning in Maputo, Mozambique
2017
Ingår i: Gender, Place and Culture. - 0966-369X .- 1360-0524. ; 24:7, s. 974-990
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Taking issue with how associations between technical prowess or entrepreneurship and masculinity tend to be taken for granted or are seen as stemming from natural or intrinsic gender differences, over the last two decades feminist scholars have developed theoretical approaches to understand the gendering of professions and abilities as the performative outcome of particular cultures and histories. We build on these insights to explore how associations between masculinities, technology and entrepreneurship shape ideas and practices of small-scale water provision in Maputo. Our findings show how activities (i.e. technical craftsmanship, hard physical work) or abilities (i.e. risk-taking, innovativeness) regarded as masculine tend to be considered the defining features of the profession. This shapes how men and women make sense of and talk about their work, each of them tactically emphasizing and performing those aspects best fitting their gender. Our detailed documentation of men’s and women’s everyday involvements in water provisioning challenges the existence of sharp boundaries and distinctions between genders and professional responsibilities. It shows that water provisioning requires many other types of work and skills and male and female household members collaborate and share their work. The strong normative-cultural associations between gender and water provisioning lead to a distinct under-recognition of women’s importance as water providers. We conclude that strategies to effectively support small-scale water businesses while creating more space and power for women involved in the business require the explicit recognition and re-conceptualization of water provisioning as a household business.
6.
Boakye-Ansah, A. S., et al.
(författare)
Inequalities in microbial contamination of drinking water supplies in urban areas : The case of Lilongwe, Malawi
2016
Ingår i: Journal of Water and Health. - : IWA Publishing. - 1477-8920 .- 1996-7829. ; 14:5, s. 851-863
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Over past decades strategies for improving access to drinking water in cities of the Global South have mainly focused on increasing coverage, while water quality has often been overlooked. This paper focuses on drinking water quality in the centralized water supply network of Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. It shows how microbial contamination of drinking water is unequally distributed to consumers in low-income (unplanned areas) and higher-income neighbourhoods (planned areas). Microbial contamination and residual disinfectant concentration were measured in 170 water samples collected from in-house taps in high-income areas and from kiosks and water storage facilities in low-income areas between November 2014 and January 2015. Faecal contamination (Escherichia coli) was detected in 10% of the 40 samples collected from planned areas, in 59% of the 64 samples collected from kiosks in the unplanned areas and in 75% of the 32 samples of water stored at household level. Differences in water quality in planned and unplanned areas were found to be statistically significant at p < 0.05. Finally, the paper shows how the inequalities in microbial contamination of drinking water are produced by decisions both on the development of the water supply infrastructure and on how this is operated and maintained.
7.
Dodman, D., et al.
(författare)
African Urbanisation and Urbanism : Implications for risk accumulation and reduction
2017
Ingår i: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. - : Elsevier. - 2212-4209. ; 26, s. 7-15
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
There is an increasing recognition of the need to understand and address risks of various kinds in African cities. However, there have been very few explicit examinations of the way in which the specific characteristics of African urbanisation and urbanism drive risk, or the way in which responses to risk should take these characteristics into account. This paper presents a critical review of the key features of African urban experiences, and analyses the implications for the creation and reduction of diverse risks, from the everyday to the extensive. It argues that the physical forms, social structures, economic pathways, and governance systems of cities on the continent shape their risk profiles. Of particular importance are the nature of spatial expansion, the demographic profiles of cities, and the prevalence of informal economies and settlements; while the reform of governance systems will be critical to enable risk reduction. The paper concludes that urban development actors need to consider the consequences of their actions for risk, while risk reduction practitioners will need to engage with all elements of urban development, including informality, urban poverty, infrastructure and service provision, land management, and local governance capacity.
8.
9.
Di Baldassarre, Giuliano, et al.
(författare)
Brief communication : Comparing hydrological and hydrogeomorphic paradigms for global flood hazard mapping
2020
Ingår i: Natural hazards and earth system sciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1561-8633 .- 1684-9981. ; 20:5, s. 1415-1419
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Global floodplain mapping has rapidly progressed over the past few years. Different methods have been proposed to identify areas prone to river flooding, resulting in a plethora of available products. Here we assess the potential and limitations of two main paradigms and provide guidance on the use of these global products in assessing flood risk in data-poor regions.
10.
Di Baldassarre, Giuliano, et al.
(författare)
Integrating Multiple Research Methods to Unravel the Complexity of Human-Water Systems
2021
Ingår i: AGU Advances. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 2576-604X. ; 2:3
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Predicting floods and droughts is essential to inform the development of policy in water management, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Yet, hydrological predictions are highly uncertain, while the frequency, severity and spatial distribution of extreme events are further complicated by the increasing impact of human activities on the water cycle. In this commentary, we argue that four main aspects characterizing the complexity of human-water systems should be explicitly addressed: feedbacks, scales, tradeoffs and inequalities. We propose the integration of multiple research methods as a way to cope with complexity and develop policy-relevant science.Plain Language SummarySeveral governments today claim to be following the science in addressing crises caused by the occurrence of extreme events, such as floods and droughts, or the emergence of global threats, such as climate change and COVID-19. In this commentary, we show that there are no universal answers to apparently simple questions such as: Do levees reduce flood risk? Do reservoirs alleviate droughts? We argue that the best science we have consists of a plurality of legitimate interpretations and a range of foresights, which can be enriched by integrating multiple disciplines and research methods.
