Why Drinking Water is Essential to Promoting Women – Deeply

Education, health, employment and time all share the same denominator as women. For many people, especially women and girls, these four areas represent lost opportunities in the absence of a vital resource: water. Nothing can be accomplished or improved without first ensuring access to clean water. It is a basic element that must be secured in order to pursue opportunities such as education and economic growth, and to create sustainable and prosperous communities.

For more than 844 million people in the world, one in nine people on Earth, access to clean, safe water is always out of reach. The majority of these people live in rural areas and have to walk for hours to fetch water for themselves and their families. And the burden of collecting water for households is disproportionately on women and girls. In sub-Saharan Africa, women are responsible for 72% of the water collected and walk for miles each day to transport between 40 and 80 lbs (18 to 36 kg) of water – sometimes repeating this trip several times per day. In Africa alone, women spend 40 billion hours of walking a year looking for water, a time that could instead be used to go to school, run a school. business or improve their household.

Beyond the time lost in fetching water, the gender-specific consequences of women's lack of access to water are unequally weighted. For example, in many developing countries, girls drop out of school at puberty because they miss one week a month for managing their period. Without education, these girls find themselves trapped in the cycle of poverty without any tools to help find a way out. In fact, according to YOU SAID, every additional year a girl stays in school, her income can increase by 15 to 25%.

In addition, the water collected is often filled with pathogens that cause diseases such as giardiasis, cholera and schistosomiasis. These illnesses can last for weeks or even months, forcing people to waste valuable time at school or at work. As primary caregivers, women also suffer from diseases caused by unsafe water – the time spent looking after sick children or other family members can be spent on income generating activities. If left untreated, these diseases can often lead to death, especially in vulnerable people such as children: nearly one in five deaths in children under five in the world is due to a related illness to the water. Without safe drinking water, people can not wash their hands or food, which can further increase the spread of the disease.

As part of the Caterpillar Foundation's work to reduce global poverty, we have seen how access to clean, safe water is transforming the lives of these women and girls and, ultimately, their lives. their communities. We are proud to work with innovative partners dedicated to solving this critical issue, such as Water.org.

Water.org focuses on eliminating the cost barrier of funding for sustainable access to water – about 91% of people affected by Water.org live on less than $ 6 a day . By providing small, easily repayable loans to those in need of affordable funding and specialized resources, it becomes possible to purchase water and toilets at home. In addition, access to these resources reduces hunger, improves health, promotes equality, develops education, promotes economic empowerment, and ultimately breaks the cycle. of poverty. Thanks to our support for Water.org since 2008, we have helped bring clean water and sanitation to 3.8 millions of people in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Peru.

The ability to open a faucet and have instant access to water for cooking and cleaning is a phenomenon that many of us take for granted. But for those in developing countries, the value of water and its impact on their lives are all too obvious. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), access to clean water and basic sanitation can save about 16,000 lives each week. A WHO The badysis also shows that for every dollar invested in water and sanitation, the economic return is $ 4. When people do not care about looking for water, looking after sick children or getting sick, they can invest their time in working for a better future instead of just surviving. They can start a business or improve their home. They can go to school or find a job. They are empowered to improve their lives and those around them and can take action to lift themselves out of poverty.

With the help of our global partners, the Caterpillar Foundation's goal is to help 50 million people around the world emerge from extreme poverty by 2020 and work to promote and educate the population. the important role water plays in achieving this goal. This kind of work can not be done alone; However, thanks to collaborative and strategic partnerships, relationships with local communities and the implementation of innovative and sustainable solutions, we know that water is a problem that can be solved.

So now we ask you the question that we spent last year asking ourselves and our partners: you to make water?

The views expressed in this article belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Women's Advancement Deep.