Water and Gender
Facts and Figures

## Fewer than 50 countries have laws or policies that specifically mention women’s participation for rural sanitation or water resources management. (UN-Water 2021)
## Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 8 out of 10 households with water off premises, which means reducing the population with limited drinking water services will have a strong gender impact. (WHO and UNICEF, 2017)
## 1 million deaths each year are associated with unclean births. Infections account for 26% of neonatal deaths and 11% of maternal mortality. (WHO/UNICEF 2019).
## While supplying almost half of all agricultural labour in low and middle-income countries, women’s agricultural productivity is on average 20–30% lower than male farmers’. (FAO, 2017)
## About 44 million pregnant women have sanitation-related hookworm infections that pose a considerable health burden in developing societies. (UNICEF)


Without safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities at home and in places of work and education, it is disproportionately harder for women and girls to lead safe, productive, healthy lives.

Across low-income countries, women and girls have primary responsibility for management of household water supply, sanitation and health. Often, fulfilling these roles precludes any other occupation or participation in education, and their marginalization is compounded by the indignity and insecurity of having nowhere private to go to the toilet. Addressing the needs of females in relation to water, sanitation and hygiene is a key driver in achieving gender equity and locking the potential of half of global society.

Challenges
In many countries, the presence or absence of a safe and sufficient water supply and improved sanitation facilities has a disproportionate effect on the lives of women and girls for three main reasons. First, women and girls usually bear the responsibility for collecting water, which is often very time-consuming and arduous. Second, women and girls are more vulnerable to abuse and attack while walking to and using a toilet or open defecation site. And third, women have specific hygiene needs during menstruation, pregnancy and child rearing.


Opportunities
At the local level, gender-sensitive approaches are helping to improve the suitability, sustainability and reach of water and sanitation services by both focusing on and involving women in the facilities’ design, implementation and management. Embedding gender equity into policy at all levels will be crucial to achieving water and sanitation for all, which in turn will help advance many other parts of the SDG agenda, particularly education and work.
Find out more from:

IFAD (2012): Gender and Water – Securing water for improved rural livelihoods
UNICEF: Gender and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
UNESCO WWAP Overview of resources on gender-sensitive data related to water
UN-Water (2021): Summary Progress Update 2021: SDG 6 — water and sanitation for all
UN-Water: Gender, Water and Sanitation – A Policy Brief
UN Women: Women and the Sustainable Development Goals
WaterAid: Water and Women
WHO/UNICEF (2019): Water, sanitation, and hygiene in health care facilities: Practical steps to achieve universal access for quality care.