The amazing women leaders in RWSN from top left: Kelly Anne Naylor (UNICEF/RWSN Chair); Louisa Gosling (WaterAid/Leave No-one Behind); Marieke Adank (IRC/Sustainable Services); Ellen Greggio (WaterAid/Mapping & Monitoring); Dr Kerstin Danert (Skat/Sustainable Groundwater Development); Sara Ahrari (Simavi/Leave No-one Behind); Meleesa Naughton (Skat,World Bank/Secretariat); Susanna Smets (World Bank/Sustainable Services); Priya Nath (WaterAid/Leave No-one Behind); Hanna Capeda (SDC/Executive Committee), Sandra Brühlmann (SDC/Executive Committee); Lilian Pena-Pereira Weiss (World Bank/Executive Committee); Bertha Camacho (Skat/Executive Committee); Violeta Zivanovic (Skat/Secretariat)

© 2018 various • various

When it comes to access to rural water supplies, there are hundreds of millions of women worldwide who each day bear the brunt of the hard labour and time spent on collecting.

Sustainable rural water services can only be achieved if women have a strong decision-making voice, and this doesn't just mean being passive 'beneficiaries' of well-intentioned aid. It means being empowered actors throughout the system from the highest political levels to the professions that delivery and regular the services.

RWSN is a global network of rural water supply, and rural WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) professionals and our profession needs a better gender balance. So we are practicing what we preach - the leadership of the network across the Executive and Themes is already balanced and in our new 2018-2023 Strategy, the role of gender and the voice of women in rural access to safe water takes centre stage.

RWSN is lucky enough to count some of the leading professional women from WASH sector to run and steer the network, plus many, many more who are active members that contribute in many different ways.

So join them, and be part of improving the lives and livelihoods of rural women across low and middle income countries worldwide.


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