Women and Water

“As with all major disasters, the current global economic crisis hits people living in poverty the hardest - especially regarding water.  As economies around the world face severe contraction, local and national governments are drastically cutting budgets for already underfunded building and repairing of water distribution and purification systems, as well as cleanup of polluted aquifers, wetlands, rivers, and other life-sustaining eco-systems.  Unfortunately, too often this is concurrent with cuts in spending for healthcare and other social services.  The combination can be particularly devastating to populations that are already underserved.”
So writes Rick Ulfik, organizer of the “Make Waves for Change” event launching the Global Water Campaign today, in defining the current water crisis.

UN figures indicate that 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. More than 2.5 billion around the world are living without proper sanitation and this further jeopardizes the quality of their water.

The fact is that the burden of the water crisis falls disproportionately on women and girls, since they bear the brunt of household responsibilities, such as hygiene, cooking, gathering water, and taking care of children and the sick.  These tasks carry with them the risks of contamination by water-related diseases, among other risks.  Furthermore, according to UNICEF, in developing countries women and girls walk an average of six kilometers a day, carrying 20 liters of water.

This past week some 30,000 participants, including governments, UN agencies, NGOs, and women’s organizations, met to discuss water policy at the fifth World Water Forum (WWF) held in Istanbul. “The irony is that women know so much about water, but are allowed to say so little about its use and management,” Joke Muylwijk, Executive Director of the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA), a women’s organization advocating for gender equality in water issues at the WWF, told the Inter Press Service.

She added, “Women have special needs in sanitation. It no longer is a taboo - nor should it be - that we openly discuss that women need special toilets because, unlike men, they can’t just go to the field. Even if they do, they become vulnerable to sexual assaults. Some women drink less water so as not to go to go to the toilet unless a clean and safe one is available. Also reproductive organs are vulnerable to dirty water. Some girls actually drop out of school because of lack of adequate toilets.”

The final conference declaration fell short of declaring access to safe drinking water and sanitation a "universal human right," opting instead to call it simply a “basic human need.” At the conference, Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, the President of the UN General Assembly, called water “a public trust, a common heritage of people and nature, and a fundamental human right.”  He added, “I am convinced that we must challenge the notion that water is a commodity to be bought and sold on the open market."

The water industry averages earnings of $400 billion a year in services, equipment and the selling of water.  According to UNICEF, an additional $11.3 billion each year could help to meet the MDG 7 target of reducing by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.  

Find out more about women and water issues:  http://www.genderandwater.org/

Take action on water:  The Global Water Campaign, to be launched the weekend of March 20 – 22, p rovides ways for individuals, groups and communities around the world to raise awareness and take action regarding water-related issues. The Campaign is the latest in a series of public education and mobilization programs of the organization, We, The World (www.WeTheWorld.org). Co-sponsors include the Sierra Club NYC, the Earth Society Foundation, Communications Coordination Committee for the UN, WBAI Pacifica Radio and the Feminist Task Force –GCAP.

Feminist Task Force of the Global Call to Action against Poverty
“20 Days to G20” Global Action e-campaign
“Gender Equality to End Poverty"