With World Water Week underway in Stockholm, DAVID ADAMS reports on the disproportionate “cost” collecting water from sources outside their homes has for women and girls around the world…
Women and girls spend 200 million hours collecting water every day thanks to a lack of easily accessible water sources around the world.
The figure – released by UNICEF as part of World Water Week which runs from 28th August until 2nd September and centres on an international gathering of water experts in Stockholm, Sweden – equates to some 8.3 million days or more than 22,800 years.
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“No matter where you look, access to clean drinking water makes a difference in the lives of people. The needs are clear; the goals are clear. Women and children should not have to spend so much of their time for this basic human right.”
– Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF’s global head of water, sanitation and hygiene
Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF’s global head of water, sanitation and hygiene, said that when water is not available on premises and needs to be collected, “it’s our women and girls who are mostly paying with their time and lost opportunities”.
Goal six of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – which focuses on water and sanitation – calls for universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030 and, while the ultimate aim is to ensure safe water in everyone’s home, experts say the first step is providing everyone on Earth with 30 minute round-trip access to safe water sources.
In an illustration of the issue, UN estimates show that in places like sub-Saharan Africa, for 29 per cent of the population – including 37 per cent in rural areas and 14 per cent in urban areas – improved drinking water sources are 30 minutes or more away.
UNICEF says that in situations where water is not piped to the home, “the burden of fetching it falls disproportionately on women and children, especially girls”.
One study of the situation in 24 sub-Saharan African nations found that when the amount of time taken to collect water passes 30 minutes, an estimated 3.36 million children and 13.54 million adult females were responsible for water collection.
In Malawi, the UN estimates that women who collected water spent 54 minutes on average doing so, while men spent only six minutes. In Guinea and Tanzania, average collection times for women were 20 minutes, double that of men.
UNICEF says that for women the “opportunity costs” of spending so much time collecting water are high and have far-reaching effects upon them.
“It considerably shortens the time they have available to spend with their families, on child care, other household tasks, or even in leisure activities,” the organisation says. “For both boys and girls, water collection can take time away from their education and sometimes even prevent their attending school altogether.”
Water collection can also affect family health, particularly that of children, with the mere fact it has to be transported and stored increasing the risk of faecal contamination. This, in turn, increases the risk of diarrhoeal disease, the fourth leading cause of death among children under five, and one of the leading causes of chronic malnutrition, or stunting, which affects 159 million children worldwide.
Mr Wijesekera says that “[n]o matter where you look, access to clean drinking water makes a difference in the lives of people”. “The needs are clear; the goals are clear. Women and children should not have to spend so much of their time for this basic human right.”
More than 3,000 people from more than 120 countries are taking part in the meetings in Stockholm this week for the 26th annual World Water Week under the overarching theme of “Water for Sustainable Growth”.
Torgny Holmgren, executive director of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) – which organises the week, told the opening session that without reliable access to water, “almost no Sustainable Development Goal will be achieved”.
“To make that happen, we must ensure water’s centrality to the entire Agenda 2030. This will show the power water has a connector.”
