Women’s History Month: Remembering the Honorable Dr. Maria Mutagamba
In water-stressed communities, conservation often becomes women’s work. Lack of access to safe water affects women in particular. In many communities where water can only be found in unprotected springs or rivers, fetching it is the duty of women and girls. This task can be dangerous, especially for pregnant women, and the hours lost collecting water may cause girls to miss school. In addition, lack of hygiene in schools means that girls frequently drop out after they hit puberty.
Perhaps because of these challenges, women have often been at the forefront of global efforts to increase WaSH access. Despite the disadvantages women still face around the world, many women have chosen to challenge their family’s situations and have helped to make life better for themselves and their families. This Women’s History Month, we’d like to remember in particular the late Honorable Doctor Maria Mutagamba, who was a cornerstone of Uganda’s water access efforts for years.
Honorable Maria Emily Lubega Mutagamba was born in Rakai District, Uganda, on September 5, 1952. After earning her bachelor’s degree in economics and a certificate in executive leadership from Cambridge University in Massachusetts, she began her career as a research officer in the Bank of Uganda. After more than twenty years of working at the bank, and eventually rising to the position of director, she began her career in politics. In 2006 she was appointed as the Minister of Water and the Environment for the Republic of Uganda.
During her time as Minister, she was an active member of UNICEF WaSH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene). She was also a leading member of the Nile Basin Initiative, an alliance between the nations of the Nile Basin dedicated to fair and sustainable management of shared water resources. In her own country, she worked tirelessly to improve the state of sustainable water access for Ugandan communities.
The first woman to be elected to her position and a lifelong feminist, the Honorable Maria Mutagamba understood the stakes that women had in water access and the valuable role they played in improving WaSH conditions. She encouraged Ugandan women to challenge their circumstances by forming women’s groups and community health clubs. She was also an avid supporter of improving education in Uganda, being aware of the need for skilled and knowledgeable people in engineering, hydrology, environmental sciences, and medicine to address the country’s issues with water access.
Maria Mutagamba was a great friend and supporter of H2O4ALL and its co-founders Odile Bartlett and Timothy Muttoo. They worked jointly with the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, & Health (UNU-INWEH) to engage and collaborate with NGOs both in North America and East Africa to bring lasting, sustainable evidence-based change to WaSH.
Maria Mutagamba died on 24 June 2017. Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda called her death “a great loss to the country.” She left behind a legacy of fighting for water access and women’s rights. In her memory, H2O4ALL continues to make a difference, one drop at a time.
