Women and girls are bearing the heaviest load in the world’s growing water crisis, the United Nations has cautioned, highlighting an urgent need to protect their access to water and include them in decision-making at all levels.
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, which stresses that gender disparities continue to undermine global water security despite years of progress.
The report shows that in more than seven out of ten rural households without proper water services, women are tasked with collecting water. This responsibility often comes at the cost of education, income generation, and personal safety.
Combined, women and girls spend an estimated 250 million hours daily gathering water, with adolescent girls under 15 carrying a particularly heavy burden.
“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 consequences of unequal water access are far-reaching. Poor sanitation, missed educational opportunities, and increased risks to health and safety disproportionately affect women. Between 2016 and 2022, around 10 million adolescent girls across 41 countries missed school, work, or social activities due to inadequate sanitation and menstrual hygiene facilities.
Despite their critical role in sustaining households and communities, women remain underrepresented in water governance, financial management, and technical roles. Research from 64 water utilities across 28 low- and middle-income countries shows that fewer than 20 percent of water-sector employees are women, who also tend to earn less than men.
Climate change and water scarcity further amplify these inequalities. The report notes that a 1°C rise in temperature leads to a 34 percent greater drop in income for female-headed households compared with male-headed households. In addition, women’s labor hours increase by nearly an hour per week relative to men.
Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development 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 urges governments and institutions to dismantle legal, financial, and structural barriers that prevent women from fully exercising their rights to water and land. It also calls for investments in gender-focused financing, leadership training, sex-disaggregated water data collection, and recognition of unpaid water-related work.
As part of UNESCO’s World Water Assessment Programme, the report supports training for water practitioners, development of gender-responsive policy tools, and implementation of field projects to improve access and governance. UN-Water coordinates global efforts to integrate gender considerations into water and sanitation planning, policies, and funding discussions.
