Leveraging water for peace: a way to go! Understanding young people’s experiences would be helpful, right?

Water aid

Finally, the chance to return!

By Dr. Tara Beattie My last visit to Malawi was just before Covid19 hit in 2020, and obviously during the pandemic opportunity to come out was very restricted. I was then disappointed I couldn’t attend the project launch meeting in November 2022. So when the...

 Exploring Adolescent Health in Malawi: A Journey through Longitudinal Insights

Welcome to our blog, where we embark on a fascinating journey investigating the   complexities of early adolescent health and well-being in the vibrant landscape of Malawi. Join us as we explain the stories, challenges, and triumphs encountered in our...

Navigating New Horizons: A PhD Student’s Reflections and Discoveries

~ by Velia Manyonga -University of Strathclyde (Scotland) I was very excited when I was offered the scholarship to study PhD in Social Policy with the University of Strathclyde. For years, I harbored a strong desire to further my education, but financial constraints...

Tackling Adverse Childhood Events, A Key to Achieving Adolescents’ Health Rights

On this World Health Day, we advocate for the fundamental right to health for all, including adolescents who are shaping our future. However, for many young people, their health journey is marred by the shadow of Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs), which profoundly...

Altering Perspective – Reflection from initial days of my PhD Journey

I have worked in research since 2014, but this years’ experience from data collection in the field has completely changed my perspective on quite an important issue we often talk about. I was very excited to start our formative data collection exercise, where our work...

Formative Research in Full Swing!

After many months of collaborating across disciplines and expertise between University of Strathclyde, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences the teams were delighted to depart to the field to begin their engagement...

Diversity in Health Economics: An Early Career Researcher’s View

Attending the International Health Economics Association (IHEA) Congress was an incredibly insightful and enriching experience. The event brought together a diverse group of health economists from all over the world. Pre-Congress Sessions:  The first couple of...

NIHR – GHRG In-Person Consortium Meeting: Glasgow 2023 -A Gathering for Progress and Innovation

The In-Person NIHR-GHRG Consortium Meeting for the year 2023, held in Glasgow from September 4th to 8th, was a resounding success. This annual event is requirement from our funding authority, the NIHR, serving as a critical juncture for monitoring progress, reflecting...

Annual Research Group Meeting 4-8 September 2023: Glasgow

WS Leads, research team members and the Programme Management Group will meet in-person in Glasgow from 4 - 8 September 2023 to track progress against milestones and indicators set out in the Project Plan. The GHRG will also host a Networking event on the 7th of...

Co-creating Mental Health: inspiration from collaboration with New York University

Mental Health is a key strand to the partnership between University of Strathclyde and New York University (NYU). There is a shared passion for the co-creation of initiatives with local communities, and also for harnessing the healing powers of arts and skills’...

April 2, 2024

Lack of access to safe and adequate water supply remains a challenge globally, but especially in sub-Saharan Africa. With a predominately youthful population in this region, this is a challenge that continues to blight the lives of young people. In Malawi nearly half the population is aged 19 and under. As populations continue to grow, so does the demand for water, thus reflecting the inclusion of water as a key Sustainable Development Goal. Beyond the challenge this poses to health and livelihoods, inadequate access to safe water supply also sparks violence and conflicts among people both within nations and across borders. It is not only wars with guns that disturbs people’s peace. Accessing communal water sources at a distance exposes populations to various forms of violence, especially women and young people as they are usually responsible for collection household water. Where water points are in limited supply, queueing for long period can lead to fights among the service users. Where water sources are far from home, travelling longer distances for water collection exacerbates cases of rape and gender-based violence against women and girls. Furthermore, the stress arising from poor access to adequate and safe water, and experiencing violence through this route, can affect young people’s mental health.

Voicing water access
Malawian young people voicing their water access concerns through picture

Unfortunately, limited research has been conducted with young people to understand the challenges, including violence and its prevalence, that they face related to water access. However, this is about to change. Through the use of novel data collection methods, for example using art and photography to express experiences, the water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) team from the NIHR Global Health Research Group on improving adolescent health and well-being in Malawi aim to document young peoples lived experience of challenges related to WASH. We hope to not only understand the issues young people have, but also help them develop interventions to mitigate some of these challenges.  

Formative Research Adolescents in Schools
Photovoice discussion with adolescents in Malawi

Here is a glimpse of conflicts emanating from lack of adequate access to safe water supply:

Art work by one of our young participants showing aggression by an older woman toward young boys trying to access a water point.

More from us ….

Formative Research in Full Swing!
Formative Research in Full Swing!

After many months of collaborating across disciplines and expertise between University of Strathclyde, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences the teams were delighted to depart to the field to begin their engagement...