Beyond COP26: Lessons from South Africa on water and community health

Despite legislative and policy commitments to the right to water, cooperative governance and public participation, there is limited participation more importantly with the marginalized rural communities to respond to their needs. We present doctoral research embedded within a 5-year MRC programme, developing local knowledge on health priorities in a rural province and advancing processes to engage multi-sectoral stakeholders to respond to lack of safe water as a community nominated priority in rural South Africa This is episode 1, Beyond COP26 and Participatory water governance in South Africa with your host Jennifer Hove, a research fellow from Wits university and co-host Denny Mabetha a researcher from Wits/Agincourt HDSS in collaboration with Aberdeen University. This series is about ‘doing work WITH not ON or FOR the community, encouraging co-production of evidence, democratization of knowledge and interdisciplinarity/ inter-sector working. The guests in this panel are Mr Mnisi, a community member from Agincourt HDSS, to understand water and environment, community perspective and experience on lack of water, a community nominated health priority. The second guest, Mr C Khosa, is a service provider, representing Bushbuckridge Municipality. As part of the Verbal Autopsy with Participatory Action Research (VAPAR), this work aims to improve evidence base for marginalized communities, connecting with service providers and partnering for change. This first series was recorded at Bushbuckridge Municipality in Mpumalanga South Africa.

Water scarcity has become an increasing threat to humans with a serious effect on food production globally. The situation is expected to exacerbate under projected future climate change. South Africa was identified as one of the most vulnerable countries predicted to experience climate change. COP26 highlighted the need for effective sustainable engagement to deliver social change. The ongoing Verbal Autopsy with Participatory Action Research (VAPAR) programme being conducted in Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (HDSS) involves an iterative sequence of action-learning cycles, involving communities in priority setting, decision making and action on issues affecting their lives, and with the intention to empower communities. The process has the potential to improve community control, power, and agency for action on health from a pro- equity and social justice perspective. The VAPAR process for community members offers opportunities to raise a collective voice around local concerns, and to interact with service providers and researchers to drive collective action around issues affecting their lives. The University of Witwatersrand, faculty of health sciences in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen presents to you a participatory action research (PAR) with communities in Agincourt HDSS in South Africa. In this second series, the host; Jennifer Hove PhD student at Wits university discuss about ‘Amplifying Community Voice’ to address lack of safe water, a community nominated priority. The aim of the process was to shift responsibility of ownership of health and life in general, encourage multisectoral stakeholder collaboration and creating learning platforms. Jennifer Hove engages Mr Jabulani Mnisi, a community member who has been a participant, a partner in this programme since 2017, together with Mrs Nomsa Ntimane a service provider, an Operational Manager (clinician), at Agincourt Health Centre. In this series, Mr Mnisi shares his experience with PAR process, how his community collaboratively decided on the priority health issues, relationships developed with other stakeholders (service providers), roles and responsibilities and reflection on the action learning. Mrs Ntimane discusses water and health, “no health without water’. Though the health system has no statutory mandate for water, it is deeply impacted by widespread lack of safe water. This series was recorded at Agincourt Health centre.