Water is essential for life but access to it is far from equal. Women and girls shoulder most water-related responsibilities at home, yet face the greatest barriers to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services in schools, workplaces, health care facilities, and households.
Through its Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) and World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), UNESCO is helping countries close this gap by promoting equal participation in water governance.
The United Nations World Water Development Report 2026 “Water for all people: equal rights and opportunities” lays bare these disparities and maps out solutions for more inclusive and resilient water systems. On 23 March 2026, the UNESCO Office in Venice and WWAP marked World Water Day by launching the report in Venice, a fitting setting where water shapes daily life.
Venice, the quintessential water city, is the ideal place to host this conference, as water represents its founding element.
Massimiliano De Martin, Councillor, Municipality of Venice
Under the theme ‘Water and Gender – Where Water Flows, Equality Grows’, the event gathered policymakers, experts, and partners to confront a stark reality: millions of women and girls still spend hours each day collecting water, limiting their access to education, work, and opportunities.
Titled ‘Water for All People: Equal Rights and Opportunities’, the report goes beyond diagnosis. It calls for targeted investment in gender-responsive water services, more inclusive policies, and greater support for women’s leadership in the hydrological sector.
“Across regions, women are disproportionately disadvantaged when it comes to water. That’s why the report is not only an assessment, but also a call for collective action,” stated Laura Veronica Imburgia, Programme Specialist, UNESCO WWAP.
Speakers brought diverse perspectives from policy, science, and field experience. Birgit Vogel, Executive Secretary of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), stressed these growing pressures, how climate change, water scarcity, and fragile contexts are deepening gender inequalities.
Michele Ribotta (UN Women Albania) called for coordinated UN action for gender-responsive water governance, including in high water-use sectors such as industry and agriculture.
From a regional perspective, Lidija Brnovic, DIKTAS II National Expert, emphasised the need for sex-disaggregated data and targeted strategies to better understand how water challenges affect women and men differently, particularly in complex systems like the Dinaric Karst Aquifer System.
The discussion underscored the role of culture, social sciences, and STEM in shaping water governance. Solutions, speakers agreed, must reflect local contexts and community practices to achieve beneficial and successful water management. One message stood out: empowering women is a necessary step towards building effective and sustainable water systems, from community to global level.
The 2026 report is ultimately a call to act. By placing gender equality at the heart of water governance, it argues, countries can accelerate progress towards global goals on water, sanitation, and equality. More importantly, when women gain equal access to water, entire communities thrive.
read more: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/world-water-development-report-2026-strengthening-water-governance-through-gender-equality?hub=701
