Women and girls bearing brunt of water shortages globally, UN warns
Unesco calls for action as lack of access and sanitation hit health, education and food security of women
TL;DR
- Women and girls are responsible for collecting water in over 70% of rural households without mains water globally.
- Globally, women and girls collectively spend 250 million hours daily collecting water.
- A 1°C rise in temperature reduces incomes in female-headed households by 34% more than in male-headed ones and increases women's weekly labor by 55 minutes relative to men.
- Poor sanitation leads to millions of adolescent girls missing school, work, or social activities.
- In 2024, over 2.1 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water and 3.4 billion lacked safely managed sanitation.
- Women are under-represented in water management decisions and water utility sectors.
- Lack of access to water and sanitation in clinics contributes to maternal deaths and exposes women to gender-based violence.