• As primary providers, managers, and users of water, women are in an ideal spot to help drive productive change in the design and maintenance of water and sanitation systems, distribution, and policymaking.
• When women are included in decision-making on water, sanitation and hygiene issues, services tend to be more accessible and sustainable
• Water and sanitation are the important entry points to build national and local government capacity to meet the needs of women and girls.

• En tant que principales pourvoyeuses, gestionnaires et utilisatrices d’eau, les femmes occupent une position idéale pour contribuer à un changement productif dans la conception et la maintenance des systèmes d’approvisionnement en eau et d’assainissement, de la distribution et de la définition des politiques.
• Lorsque les femmes sont incluses aux prises de décisions sur les questions d’eau, d’assainissement et d’hygiène, les services sont généralement plus accessibles et durables.
• L’eau et l’assainissement constituent des points de départ importants pour donner aux gouvernements nationaux et locaux la capacité de satisfaire les besoins des femmes et des filles.

• Como principales proveedoras, administradoras y usuarias de agua, las mujeres se encuentran en un lugar ideal para ayudar a impulsar un cambio productivo en el diseño y mantenimiento de los sistemas de agua y saneamiento, la distribución y la formulación de políticas.
• Cuando se incluye a las mujeres en la toma de decisiones sobre cuestiones de agua, saneamiento e higiene, los servicios tienden a ser más accesibles y sostenibles.
• El agua y el saneamiento son un importante punto de entrada para desarrollar la capacidad del gobierno nacional y local para satisfacer las necesidades de mujeres y niñas.

• In India, where women have been trained and licensed as hand pump mechanics, customers rate female mechanics as more accessible and responsive than male mechanics. As a result, in areas served by female mechanics, there is more preventative maintenance and fewer breakdowns. Many of these women understand that a broken hand pump results in girls and women having to travel greater distances to collect water, losing productive time and increasing risks to their personal safety.

• In Malawi, water committees composed mainly of women monitor the condition of the water pipes that lie along the footpaths they use several times a day, reporting water leakages and the need for repairs.

• Women in the Magelang district of Java, Indonesia, helped their community rethink long-held beliefs that women lack technical skills when they offered technical solutions to design problems in the existing water system. Their solutions became the basis for a complete modification to the water system, and women are now active participants in the management of the community’s water systems.

• Countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, and Peru have adopted ambitious national policies aimed at increasing the number of women working in the water and sanitation sector, increasing women’s participation, and changing the way water resources are managed.

• Kenya’s national gender policy, of which water policy is a subset, has been cascaded to all public sector institutions at every level of government with a requirement to report on compliance and impact to the country’s National Gender Commission on a quarterly basis.

• Uganda’s former minister of state for water, Maria Mutagamba, was instrumental in leading the formation and implementation of her country’s fully funded five-year water sector gender strategies.

SWA, hosted by UNICEF, is a global platform for achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

RWSN, hosted by Skat Foundation, is a global network of rural water supply professionals dedicated to SDG6 and specifically universal access to safe, affordable drinking water to all rural people.

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