126 million... the hours spent by women and children everyday gathering the water needed for basic survival
The journey out of chronic poverty takes time, and time is one thing many people in the developing world are short of. In large region’s of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, women may spend up to six hours a day collecting water for their family's basic survival. This is time not spent gaining an education, or planning a small business, or tending to young children or the needs of the greater community. This condition leads to what the U.N. has termed a state of “time poverty.” With attending to the most basic needs of survival occupying large blocks of the day, their is little opportunity to progress up the ladder of economic development. Families and entire communities get locked into a cycle of poverty and underdevelopment. "Environmental issues are women's rights issues. The scarcity of natural resources impacts the lives of men and women differently." -Khawar Mumtaz
For much of the last 100 years international development programs have focused on a woman’s role as a wife and mother. A sounder approach, and one reflecting the realities and potential of the twenty-first century, would focus on freeing up the time and energy of women away from the basics of daily survival. Any long term and sustainable program of poverty reduction and economic development needs to facilitate the empowerment of women. Water security and basic sanitation are essential, and would enable whole generations of women to contribute their intelligence and creativity to building a more healthy and prosperous future for themselves and their communities.