World Water Day celebrated by women around the globe

Faye Mooney
WVoN co-editor

Today is UN World Water Day (WWD).

A day which campaigners around the globe are using to raise awareness of the role of women in maintaining and  sustaining access to water and sanitation.

WWD highlights the threats posed by growing populations and climate change to our water and food resources, and how this is likely to increase over the next 50 years.

Water shortages are fundamentally connected with women and gender equality around the globe, as these stories illustrate:

• The UN has been training rural women in China to use cutting-edge water-saving irrigation technology. As men increasingly leave for jobs in the cities, women are left behind to look after the farm as well as the home. UN Women has designed a project which trains female farmers to use, manage and maintain irrigation infrastructure, whilst actively promoting understanding of gender equality within their communities.
• In Tibet, the Tibetan Women’s Association are using WWD to launch a video entitled ‘Experts Speak on Tibet’s Environment’. The idea is to draw attention to their struggle against the pollution and flooding of Tibetan water sources caused by mining and damming in the region.
• In Africa, women advocates are using WWD to highlight the importance of the sustainable management of fresh water resources, and the need to involve women in the policy process.  From the long journeys made to collect water, to caring for those sick through water-borne diseases, to how a lack of availability of clean water adds stress to women’s role as resource managers, African women have a deep understanding of water related problems and needs.

To find out more about World Water Day 2012, visit the United Nations or Wateraid websites.