NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 19– Women and girls continue to bear the brunt of the global water crisis, the United Nations warned on Thursday, calling for urgent action to safeguard their access to water and elevate their role in water management.
The warning comes in the latest United Nations World Water Development Report, released by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water ahead of World Water Day.
The report highlights that despite decades of progress, gender inequalities remain a significant barrier to global water security.
Globally, women are responsible for collecting water in more than 70% of unserved rural households, often at the cost of education, income, and personal safety.
The report estimates that women and girls spend a combined 250 million hours every day fetching water, a burden that disproportionately affects adolescent girls under 15.
“Ensuring women’s participation in water management and governance is a key driver for progress and sustainable development,” said Khaled El-Enany, UNESCO Director-General.
“We must step up efforts to safeguard women and girls’ access to water. When women have equal access, everyone benefits.”
The report also highlights the wider consequences of gendered disparities in water access, including poor sanitation, lost educational opportunities, and heightened exposure to health risks and gender-based violence.
An estimated 10 million adolescent girls across 41 countries missed school, work, or social activities between 2016 and 2022 due to inadequate sanitation and menstrual hygiene facilities.
Despite their central role in household water provision and community resilience, women remain underrepresented in water governance, financing, and technical positions.
Data from 64 utilities in 28 low- and middle-income countries show fewer than one in five water workers are women, who are often paid less than their male counterparts.
Climate change and water scarcity exacerbate these inequalities.
The report notes that a 1°C rise in temperature reduces incomes in female-headed households by 34% more than in male-headed households, while women’s weekly labor hours increase by nearly an hour relative to men.
Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Chair of UN-Water, said, “It is time to fully recognize the central role of women and girls in water solutions — as users, leaders, and professionals. Men and women must manage water side by side as a common good that benefits the whole of society.”
The report recommends removing legal, financial, and institutional barriers to women’s equal rights to water and land, investing in gender-responsive financing and leadership development, collecting sex-disaggregated water data, and valuing unpaid water-related labor.
The annual report is part of UNESCO’s World Water Assessment Programme, which trains water practitioners worldwide, develops gender-responsive policy tools, and implements field projects to improve access and governance.
UN-Water, the UN coordination mechanism for water and sanitation, facilitates system-wide efforts to integrate gender perspectives into policies, programs, and financing discussions