Blog by Pascale Muylaert, SI Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.
Co-written by SI CSW70 Delegates, Janet Schempf and Hala Ghoson.
The global water crisis can no longer be ignored. Its adverse effects are felt everywhere. Worldwide, water resources are under pressure from all sides: climate change, growing demand, toxic pollution, and years of poor management and governance. This undermines progress across multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including gender equality, access to safe water and sanitation, and the protection of our oceans and aquatic ecosystems.
Water connects everything, from sources to seas. When these natural systems are damaged, the consequences extend far beyond the immediate impact, affecting public health, food security, livelihoods, and climate resilience.
Women, Water, and Leadership
Women and girls bear a disproportionate share of these burdens—physically, culturally, and economically. In 2023, an estimated 380 million women lived under severe water stress, and the number of affected women is projected to rise sharply in the coming decades. Inadequate access to safe freshwater leads to disease, limits education and economic participation, increases unpaid care responsibilities, and intensifies vulnerability to climate shocks. At the same time, the degradation of oceans and coastal waters threatens women’s homes, health, and sources of income.
Yet women and girls are not passive victims of this multifaceted crisis. Around the world, they are protecting water resources, sustaining local knowledge, developing innovative approaches, and leading efforts for environmental and climate justice. Soroptimist International contributes to clean water access through many member-led projects worldwide.
Women’s leadership is essential, but it is too often absent from the spaces where water policies and investments are decided. However, when women are part of decision-making processes, outcomes are more sustainable. Evidence shows that gender-inclusive decision-making improves water efficiency and environmental stewardship.
We need to step up our advocacy now, in this United Nations (UN) International Year of Water and Gender Equality, and as we move towards the 2026 UN Water Conference. This is a critical opportunity to change how water governance is shaped—and who is heard.
We all need to engage politicians, opinion leaders, and community members to understand the interconnected reality of gender equality, water justice, and environmental responsibility. This crisis cannot be solved at political or community levels alone. Unsafe and polluted water is not primarily caused by individuals, but by industrial pollution, extractive practices, weak enforcement of laws, and systems that allow environmental harm without accountability.
Our advocacy should not only raise awareness but also demand regulation, responsibility, and rights. Reliable and equitable water access requires investment in technology and infrastructure, alongside community-based water solutions—on land, along rivers, and for our oceans.
Real solutions require global action: stronger legal frameworks, corporate accountability, gender-responsive water governance, and the full and meaningful participation of women and girls at every level of decision-making.
Water justice is a matter of equality and dignity. Women and girls must be recognised not only as those affected, but as leaders shaping the way forward.
