For Women, It's Personal

Glass ceilings aside, millions of women are prohibited from accomplishing little more than survival. Not because of a lack of ambition, or ability, but because of a lack of safe water and adequate sanitation. Millions of women and children in the developing world spend untold hours daily, collecting water from distant, often polluted sources, then return to their villages carrying their filled 40 pound jerry cans on their backs.

In just one day, 200 million work hours are consumed by women collecting water for their families. This lost productivity is greater than the combined number of hours worked in a week by employees at Walmart, United Parcel Service, McDonald's, IBM, Target, and Kroger.³

Surveys from 45 developing countries show that women and children bear the primary responsibility for water collection in the vast majority (76%) of households. This is time not spent working at an income-generating job, caring for family members, or attending school.⁴

A study by the World Bank and the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre of community water and sanitation projects in 88 communities found that projects designed and run with the full participation of women are more sustainable and effective than those that do not.⁶

11 percent more girls attend school when sanitation is available. ⁹

Resource Links

References

1. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2006). Human Development Report 2006, Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis.
2. United Nations World Water Development Report. (2009). Water in a Changing World.
3. Estimated with data from: Numbers 4 and 12.
4. WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation. (2010). Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water, 2010 Update.
5. WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation. (2012). Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water, 2012 Update.
6. Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). (2000). Linking Sustainability with Demand, Gender and Poverty: A study in community-managed water supply projects in 15 countries.
7. UN Water. (2008). Tackling a Global Crisis: International Year of Sanitation 2008
8. World Health Organization. (2008). Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, benefits, and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health.
9. World Health Organization (WHO). (2002). The World Health Report 2002, Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life.
10. Estimated with data from The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/World Health Organization (WHO). (2009). Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done.
11. World Health Organization. (2004). "Evaluation of the costs and Benefits of Water and Sanitation Improvements at the Global Level"
12. Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). (2010). Financing On-Site Sanitation for the Poor, A Six County Comparative Review and Analysis.