Water & Women

The sun had barely set, it seemed, when it was time for Nsonge to wake up and prepare for the two-mile long trek to the nearest stream. She needed to fetch water for the family before her husband and children awoke, returning by sunrise to begin the rest of the day’s work.

Roughly one billion people, 15 percent of the world’s population, lack access to safe water; more than half of these individuals are women and girls.⁹ They are responsible for collecting water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, hygiene, and sanitation. The huge burden of fetching water hinders women and girls’ participation in activities such as education, politics, business, and recreation.

Distance and Time
Collecting water is often the most time-consuming and important daily activity for women and young girls in developing countries. It is estimated that women in low-income countries spend 40 billion hours annually fetching and carrying water from sources far from home and that may not provide clean water.¹⁰ The time spent collecting water makes it difficult for women to focus on other economic activities and young girls to attend school. The weight of the water they carry also exposes them to a greater risk of malnutrition, back problems, and anemia.¹¹ They expend immense amounts of energy and often do not have enough food to replenish their weary bodies, which is especially dangerous for pregnant women.

Water Quantity
The precious, small amounts of water gathered are often only used for drinking and food preparation, leaving little hope for disease-fighting hygiene practices like handwashing. Too little water for proper hygiene behaviors perpetuates harmful bacteria, which are a major cause of diarrheal disease, sickness, malnutrition, and death. Women bear the majority of these burdens as the caregivers in the family. Also, women are commonly the ones to care for the family’s crops if they have access to land. Without adequate amounts of water for irrigation, crops suffer and women are not able to feed their families.

Water Quality
In many places, the available water source, even at a great distance, is contaminated. Many women lack access to enough fuel to boil and treat the water. Additionally, many times new technologies for water treatment are taught to the men in the community and the knowledge remains unshared with the women who manage the water collection and storage for the family. This hard-earned water, if left untreated, has the potential to infect small children and elderly adults with fatal illness.

Improved water sources are the first step to empowering women in developing countries. As the main users of water, women’s lives, like Nsonge’s, are waiting to be radically transformed by Lifewater’s well drilling and pump repair programs, which provide safe water close to their homes. We invite you to partner with Lifewater to change women’s lives around the world through the gift of water.