UNITAR Global Water Academy 2025 World Water Day Side Event

The discussion began with UN-Water Vice Chair, Mr Gordon, who presented the sobering statistic that 2 billion people live in households without reliable water access. He highlighted that women are the primary water collectors in two-thirds of these households, facing health risks, safety concerns, and missed opportunities for education and employment. He stressed that "there is a need to cement 'leave no one behind' in SDG 6b with women in water governance in general. If women are involved, we have better outcomes, and that’s simply because they’re impacted the most.”

Prof Sharma reinforced this point, sharing insights from data collected by UNICEF that women spend 200 million hours daily collecting water, equivalent to 23,000 years, which is time that could otherwise be used for education and career advancement.

Ms Matthews from UNDP built on this position, noting that increasing household water access could empower 640 million women to become active citizens and economic contributors. Recognising the need for more encouragement for women to take on leadership positions, she emphasised that:

We (women) are in water. We are here. We have leadership roles. Most recently, our Secretary-General appointed Ms Retno Marsudi (who is a woman) as the Special Envoy for Water, a crucial step in elevating women's roles in water governance.