THE IMPACT
Water Scarcity and Women
Water Facts
Women and children spend 125 million hours collecting fresh water every day.
Individual women and children spend as many as six hours collecting fresh water daily.
Almost 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty are women.
In Africa & Asia, women walk an average of 3.73 miles (6 kilometers) to collect water for their families every day.
Women worldwide without access to improved restroom facilities spend 266 million hours each day finding a place to go.
Women typically carry 5.3 to 6.6 US gallons (20 to 25 liters) per trip often on their head, the equivalent of 44 to 55 pounds (20 to 25 kilograms).
Young women are often taken out of school once they reach the age of puberty due to non-private restroom facilities and lack of proper sanitation.
School attendance increases for women when a clean water source is installed nearby, primarily because time once allocated to collecting water is now able to be devoted towards education.
Households in rural Africa spend 26% of their time fetching water – and it is generally women who perform this duty.
Involving women can make water projects 6 to 7 times more effective.
