Global Women's Water Initiative

Women and Water

Throughout history, women have played a central role as stewards of water. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), “women are most often the collectors, users and managers of water in the household as well as farmers of crops. Women and children provide nearly all the water for the household in rural areas.” In urban areas, women are often in charge of accessing clean water and ensuring sanitation for their families. Women hold the knowledge around quality, location, reliability and storage of local water resources.

*  When water sources are contaminated or unavailable, women and children can be hit the hardest. Women may be required to expend more labor collecting, storing, and protecting their water source, which can leave them with little or no time for other activities, like getting an education or creating a livelihood.

* The UN estimates that in some parts of Africa, women and children spend up to eight hours a day collecting water.

* Water-related diseases are also a common challenge to women, who are often responsible for caring for sick ones and have to step in for those who are ill and unable to work

* More than half of the 1.2 billion people who do not have access to water are women and girls.

For some 30 years, international and UN global conferences have repeatedly recognized that effective sustainable water resources management depends on engaging women at all levels of decision-making and implementation. It is now recognized that the exclusion of women from the planning of water supply and sanitation schemes is a major cause of their high rate of failure. However, women have often been denied their human right to water and are continually excluded from key decision-making roles, which has led to environmental destruction, deterioration of human health, and the feminization of poverty.

According to the FAO, too often the technologies that are available to women do not meet their needs, such as pumps that have handles they cannot reach or public wells that are in an inappropriate location. The Global Women’s Water Initiative creates the space for women to exchange technologies that are both practical and attainable.

Africa

Africa faces some of the most acute and devastating water problems in the world, as a result of high levels of poverty, population increases, droughts and climatic variability, inadequate coverage of water services, poor management and inefficient utilization.[4]

There is a growing need for women’s leadership in Africa with regards to water. Many women have already taken initiative—our program ensures that number continues to grow.