The relationship between water and gender is a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of sustainable development. With increasing challenges of water scarcity, water pollution, and lack of access to clean water and sanitation in several parts of the world, addressing the gender dimensions of water management is critical.
Empowerment and Access to Clean Water
The role of women in the management, protection, and restoration of water resources is critical. They are often the primary gatherers and users of water in their households – for cooking, cleaning, crop irrigation, and livestock care.[^1^] Nevertheless, as a result of gender-based power imbalances, women typically have less access to clean water sources, particularly in developing countries.
Access to clean water directly impacts women’s empowerment and advancement in society. Women who struggle to secure water for their households spend less time on education, income generation, and other productive activities.
Women and Sanitation
Beyond access to clean water, sanitation is another aspect where the gender-water nexus is visible. Globally, one in three people lack access to toilets,[^2^] and this has debilitating impacts on women in terms of health, safety, and dignity.
Lack of privacy while defecating or urinating causes physiological stress for women. Furthermore, poor sanitation facilities in schools often limit girls’ access to education, particularly during menstruation, directly affecting their educational achievements and future prospects.
Women’s role in Decision-Making and Leadership
While women’s role in collecting and managing water is significant, their involvement in decision-making groups and leadership positions in the water sector remains far from satisfactory.
Ensuring women’s participation in decision-making can lead to more equitable and effective water services. Their unique perspective can offer innovative solutions for sustainable water management, such as water saving techniques, improving sanitation and hygiene practices, community-led water management schemes, to name a few.
Linking Gender, Water, and Climate Change
Climate change, with its impacts on water resources, disproportionately affects women. For instance, in regions experiencing increased droughts and floods, women bear the burden of securing safe water for their families, often at the risk of their physical and mental health.
Despite this, women can play a pivotal role in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, especially in managing water resources. Their active participation can lead to solutions better tailored to their needs and those of their communities.
Towards a Gender-Responsive Approach
Recognising and fostering the pivotal role of women in water management can result in sustainable and equitable outcomes. This requires efforts towards gender-responsive policies and programs that center on women’s rights, capacity building, and leadership development, both at the community and policy level.
Accessibility to clean water and sanitation directly catalyze women’s empowerment by reducing the time and energy that women and girls devote to water-fetching activities. It also enhances their health and safety, educational opportunities, and economic productivity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the gendered dimensions of water use, access, management, and decision-making should no longer be an afterthought. Women are not just victims of water insecurity but also agents of change who can shape a sustainable water future. It is through such a gender-responsive approach that we can truly achieve the 2030 Agenda’s commitment to “leave no one behind.”
[^1^]: United Nations WomenWatch. (2019). Women and Water. [https://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/water/]
[^2^]: World Health Organization. (2019). 1 in 3 people globally do not have access to safe drinking water. [https://www.who.int/news/item/18-06-2019-1-in-3-people-globally-do-not-have-access-to-safe-drinking-water-unicef-who]