Women Spend 250 Million Hours Daily Fetching Water, UN Finds

Women and girls collectively spend 250 million hours every day collecting water, a burden that limits their access to education, income and safety, according to the United Nations World Water Development Report 2026 released by UNESCO. Over 2.1 billion people worldwide still lack safely managed drinking water, with women and girls bearing the heaviest responsibility in more than 70 per cent of unserved rural households.

The report, released ahead of World Water Day, documents how unpaid water collection falls disproportionately on women and girls across low- and middle-income countries. Girls under 15 are more likely than boys to be assigned water-fetching duties, and millions of adolescent girls miss school or work due to inadequate sanitation. Long journeys to water sources expose women and girls to physical strain, health risks and gender-based violence. Fewer than one in five workers in water utilities are women in many developing countries, and female representation in leadership roles is even lower.

The report highlights how climate change and water scarcity are amplifying gender disparities. Rising temperatures reduce incomes in female-headed households more sharply than in male-headed ones while simultaneously increasing women's workload. Women's unpaid labour in managing household water supplies remains largely invisible in policy and planning, despite its substantial economic value. In water-stressed and disaster-prone regions, women have less access to early-warning systems and recovery support, compounding their vulnerability to climate-driven water insecurity.

UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany called women's participation in water management a key driver of progress, stating that when women have equal access to water, everyone benefits. The report recommends removing legal barriers to women's rights over land and water resources, increasing gender-responsive financing, improving data collection on the gender-water nexus and strengthening women's leadership in the sector. Experts conclude that closing the gender gap is not only a matter of justice but a precondition for achieving universal water access globally.

Key figure — 250 million hours per day spent by women and girls collecting water