FORUM: "Water and Gender, Where Water Flows, Equality Grows." World Water Day 2026 . The global water crisis affects everyone – but not equally. Where people lack safe drinking water and sanitation close to home, inequalities flourish, with women and girls bearing the brunt. They collect water. They manage water. They care for people made sick by unsafe water. They lose time, health, safety, and opportunities. And too often, the systems that govern water leave women and girls out of decision-making, leadership, funding and representation. This makes the water crisis a women’s crisis. We need a transformative, rights-based approach to solving these challenges, where women’s voices are heard and their agency recognized. All women must be equitably represented at all levels of water leadership – helping design every pipe and policy. And women must drive change in water as engineers, farmers, scientists, sanitation workers and community leaders. As we face growing risks, from a changing climate and water-related disasters to financing shortfalls, from social norms to governance gaps, we need everybody to play their full part: managing water as a common good and building resilience for the future. This includes engaging men and boys as allies in promoting safe water, sanitation and hygiene for all, and in challenging the norms and behaviours that hold women and girls back. Only then can safe water services meet everyone’s needs – empowering women and girls to lead healthier, more fulfilled lives – and making water a force for sustainable development and gender equality that benefits us all. On World Water Day 2026, let's explore the critical relationship between water, women, and gender equality. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #WWDR, #Glacierpreservation, #WorldWaterDay, #22March., #Acceleratingchange.
EVENTS: On March 23rd, 2026 from 9:30 am - 1:30 pm in Venice, Italy to celebrate World Water Day 2026, the UNESCO and WWAP are convening an Symposium with key stakeholders to explore the critical link between water and gender equality. The 2026 theme, ‘Water and Gender’, emphasises safe drinking water and sanitation as fundamental human rights and critical enablers of gender equality, directly contributing to Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 5. Despite progress, women and girls continue to bear a disproportionate burden of water and sanitation responsibilities, and remain underrepresented in water governance and leadership. Under the theme ‘Water and Gender - Where Water Flows, Equality Grows’, this event will launch the UN World Water Development Report 2026 (WWDR 2026) and convene key stakeholders to foster dialogue, partnerships, and action towards more inclusive and resilient water systems. More specifically, the event aims to present the key findings and policy recommendations of the WWDR 2026 on water and gender; To position gender equality as a central pillar of water security, climate resilience, and sustainable development; To amplify women’s leadership and voices in water governance, services, and decision-making; To foster cross-sectoral dialogue and partnerships to accelerate progress toward SDG 6 and SDG 5 at global, regional, and national levels. Learn more about the UNESCO/WWAP symposium and register to participate!
On March 18th 2026, from 16:00 - 17:00 Asia/Tokyo, an online event held by the United Nations University will explore ways to mainstream gender in water and sanitation issues. Actions will be taken to support the achievement of SDG 6 (water and sanitation for all) and to raise awareness of the 2.1 billion people living without access to safe water. The theme for 2026 is Water and Gender. The global water crisis affects everyone, but not equally. Where people lack the rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, inequalities flourish, with women and girls bearing the brunt. Too often, the systems that govern water leave women and girls out of decision-making, leadership, funding and representation. This webinar will discuss transformative, rights-based approaches to solving these challenges, where women’s voices are heard and their agency recognized. The event is co-organized by UNU-IAS, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Tokyo office, Institute for Global Health Policy Research (iGHP), Japan Institute for Health Security (JIHS), Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF), Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), the University of Tokyo (TBC) and Waseda University Institute for Global Health. This event will be held online. To participate, please register in advance to receive a Zoom link. Please note that participants in UNU events may appear in photography, screen captures, videos, and/or audio. For further information please refer to Events. Learn more about the virtual event and Register to participate!
On March 22nd, 2026, the FAO Liaison Office with the European Union and Belgium will held a hybrid-event entitled ‘‘Where water flow, Equality grows’’. Water is a major input in the provision of food, from production in the field through all the steps in the value chain. Water is also required to meet personal and household needs, for energy and industrial production, and to maintain important water-dependent ecosystems and ecosystem services. The FAO's work in water is responding decisively to the needs of its member countries by addressing the various challenges affecting sustainable water management and supply, which our food systems and people depend on to thrive. For more information on FAO’s World Water Day 2026 celebration, and learn more about FAO's work in Water.
On March 19th, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM (New York time) at the ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations Headquarters, New York, The main event will take place during the final day of CSW. It is hosted by the Permanent Missions of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal, Switzerland, Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates, together with UN-Habitat, UN-Water, UN-Women, UNDESA, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNU-INWEH, IUCN and the Pan-African Intergovernmental Agency for Water and Sanitation for Africa. During the event, the UN World Water Development Report 2026, titled “Water for all people: Equal rights and opportunities,” will be officially launched. The report highlights key data and practical solutions to advance gender equality across the water sector. Get the Programme, the link of Registration in person and Watch the livestream!
UPCOMING EVENTS: Saudi Arabia and Riyadh's plan to host the 11th World Water Forum in 2027 on the theme "Action for a Better Future" was elected during the 86th meeting of the Board of Governors of the World Water Council, in Istanbul, on February 17, 2024.
Statement of the United Nations Secretary-General on the occasion of the World Water Day 2026; March 22nd.
This year’s World Water Day reminds us that safe water and sanitation play a critical role in supporting the rights and health of women and girls.
When access is lacking, it’s women and girls who pay the highest toll, relying on unsafe toilets; caring for family members made sick from contaminated water; and spending hours each day retrieving water from crowded communal sources – a chore that keeps many girls home from school.
But this year’s theme points to the solution: “Where water flows, equality grows.”
It’s time for governments to scale up investment and strengthen national water and sanitation systems, through improved delivery capacities, workforce training and reliable financing. Developed countries must share the technologies, expertise and financing required to build safe, sustainable and resilient water and sanitation infrastructure. And women must be at the decision-making table to ensure these systems meet their needs.
Too often, water is a source of conflict. But it can also unite people and be a contributor to peace. This year’s UN Water Conference will bring the world together to accelerate progress on water and sanitation for all.
Together, let’s make water a force for gender equality, and let the benefits flow to every community in the world.
This year’s World Water Day reminds us that safe water and sanitation play a critical role in supporting the rights and health of women and girls.
When access is lacking, it’s women and girls who pay the highest toll, relying on unsafe toilets; caring for family members made sick from contaminated water; and spending hours each day retrieving water from crowded communal sources – a chore that keeps many girls home from school.
But this year’s theme points to the solution: “Where water flows, equality grows.”
It’s time for governments to scale up investment and strengthen national water and sanitation systems, through improved delivery capacities, workforce training and reliable financing. Developed countries must share the technologies, expertise and financing required to build safe, sustainable and resilient water and sanitation infrastructure. And women must be at the decision-making table to ensure these systems meet their needs.
Too often, water is a source of conflict. But it can also unite people and be a contributor to peace. This year’s UN Water Conference will bring the world together to accelerate progress on water and sanitation for all.
Together, let’s make water a force for gender equality, and let the benefits flow to every community in the world.
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.
Statement of UN-Water Chair on World Water Day 2026; March 22nd.
Women can be many things at once: mothers, workers, caregivers, leaders. When water is unsafe, or far from home, they are the ones expected to carry the burden on top of everything else.
Safe water and sanitation services, close to home, protect women and girls’ time, health, safety and opportunity – providing the foundation of a healthier, more fulfilled life.
Yet for millions, drinking water at home is still not a reality. In two out of three households, water collection is primarily women’s responsibility.
That can mean queuing or walking long distances to fetch water, often from unimproved or unsafe sources like rivers and ponds.
These daily journeys carry risks and indignities that are too often invisible.
This makes the water crisis a women’s crisis. And women remain underrepresented in the decision-making that shape water systems and services.
That must change.
It is time to centre women and girls in water solutions – as users, leaders and workers – so they can play an equitable role alongside men to ensure water-related services meet everyone’s needs.
We need women and men, girls and boys, to manage water together as a common good that benefits the whole of society.
Because where water flows, equality grows.
Women can be many things at once: mothers, workers, caregivers, leaders. When water is unsafe, or far from home, they are the ones expected to carry the burden on top of everything else.
Safe water and sanitation services, close to home, protect women and girls’ time, health, safety and opportunity – providing the foundation of a healthier, more fulfilled life.
Yet for millions, drinking water at home is still not a reality. In two out of three households, water collection is primarily women’s responsibility.
That can mean queuing or walking long distances to fetch water, often from unimproved or unsafe sources like rivers and ponds.
These daily journeys carry risks and indignities that are too often invisible.
This makes the water crisis a women’s crisis. And women remain underrepresented in the decision-making that shape water systems and services.
That must change.
It is time to centre women and girls in water solutions – as users, leaders and workers – so they can play an equitable role alongside men to ensure water-related services meet everyone’s needs.
We need women and men, girls and boys, to manage water together as a common good that benefits the whole of society.
Because where water flows, equality grows.
UN-Water Chair, Álvaro Lario.
Statement of the UNEP Executive Director on World Water Day 2026; March 22nd.
World Water Day reminds us that healthy freshwater ecosystems are essential for resilient societies, yet their degradation disproportionately affects women and girls. In many communities, women are the first to feel the impacts of declining water quality, pollution, or scarcity. At the same time, women are among the most knowledgeable and committed custodians of water resources.
The 2026 theme, Water and Gender, underscores the urgency of embedding inclusivity and gender equality into the governance of freshwater ecosystems. This becomes all the more important as the impacts from climate change, desertification, land degradation, biodiversity loss and pollution are severely impacting freshwater access and therefore water security. Around the world, women are hydrologists, freshwater experts, policymakers, citizen scientists, and community leaders. Women’s leadership and lived experience offer essential solutions to protecting rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers and the communities and livelihoods that depend on them.
UNEP works with governments and institutions to strengthen the evidence base needed to design equitable water policies, improve gender responsive data, and monitor progress toward a more inclusive global water agenda.
Recognizing women’s leadership in decision-making and community water management, valuing their local environmental knowledge, expanding opportunities for meaningful participation, and embedding equality in water governance are critical to protecting freshwater ecosystems and ensuring no one is left behind.
World Water Day reminds us that healthy freshwater ecosystems are essential for resilient societies, yet their degradation disproportionately affects women and girls. In many communities, women are the first to feel the impacts of declining water quality, pollution, or scarcity. At the same time, women are among the most knowledgeable and committed custodians of water resources.
The 2026 theme, Water and Gender, underscores the urgency of embedding inclusivity and gender equality into the governance of freshwater ecosystems. This becomes all the more important as the impacts from climate change, desertification, land degradation, biodiversity loss and pollution are severely impacting freshwater access and therefore water security. Around the world, women are hydrologists, freshwater experts, policymakers, citizen scientists, and community leaders. Women’s leadership and lived experience offer essential solutions to protecting rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers and the communities and livelihoods that depend on them.
UNEP works with governments and institutions to strengthen the evidence base needed to design equitable water policies, improve gender responsive data, and monitor progress toward a more inclusive global water agenda.
Recognizing women’s leadership in decision-making and community water management, valuing their local environmental knowledge, expanding opportunities for meaningful participation, and embedding equality in water governance are critical to protecting freshwater ecosystems and ensuring no one is left behind.
UNEP Executive Director’s message, Inger Andersen.
Statement of the UN Women Executive Director World Water Day 2026; March 22nd.
In a world shaped by climate change, growing inequalities, and increasing pressure on natural resources, water lies at the heart of our shared future.
Water is essential for life, health, food, and livelihoods. Yet for billions of people, access to safe water and sanitation remains out of reach. And while the global water crisis affects everyone, it does not affect everyone equally.
Women and girls bear the greatest impacts of the unequal access to and scarcity of water. Every day, they spend millions of hours collecting water, caring for families, and managing scarcity, often at the cost of their education, income, health, and safety. When water is unsafe or unavailable, inequalities deepen and opportunities disappear.
This reality was already recognized thirty years ago in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which underscored the central role of women in environmental sustainability and called for their full participation in the management and safeguarding of natural resources, including water. Today, those commitments are more urgent than ever.
But women are not only the most affected by the water crisis; they are also powerful agents of change.
This World Water Day, under the theme “Water and Gender Equality – Where water flows, equality grows,” we call for a transformative, rights-based approach that places women’s leadership at the centre of water solutions. We must invest in gender-responsive water governance, financing, and services; and ensure that no woman or girl is left behind.
Water can be a force for equality, resilience, and prosperity. Together, let us make it so: for all women and girls, for communities, and for generations to come.
Statement of the UNSG's Special Envoy on World Water Day 2026; March 22nd.
Water shapes daily life everywhere – but not equally.
For millions of women and girls, a day still begins with the search for water. It can mean long walks, missed school, lost income and exposure to danger. Around the world, women and girls spend hundreds of millions of hours each day collecting water, time that could otherwise be used for education, work and participation in community life.
Safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are human rights and the foundation of dignity, health and opportunity. Yet more than one billion women still lack access to safely managed drinking water services, and in most households without water on the premises, the responsibility for collection falls primarily to them.
This is why the water crisis is also a challenge to gender equality and women empowerment.
But women are not only those most affected – they are also leaders, innovators and agents of solutions. From women-led enterprises providing safe water to rural communities to women strengthening resilience to drought and disasters, their leadership makes water services more sustainable and inclusive.
As we prepare for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, we must accelerate action that places women and girls at the centre – not only as beneficiaries, but as partners, professionals and decision-makers. Investing in women and water will strengthen communities, economies and peace.
I am a woman. I know that when women participate in decisions and actions about water, systems work better for everyone.
Let this World Water Day be a call to act, together, so that safe water empowers every woman and every girl, everywhere.
UNSG's Special Envoy on Water, Retno Marsudi
Statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on World Water Day 2026; March 22nd.
The global promise of safe drinking water and sanitation for all is slipping through our fingers.
Today, 2.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, putting entire communities at risk of preventable diseases.
Behind these numbers are hundreds of millions of women and girls walking hours each day to fetch water, sacrificing education, opportunities, and livelihoods.
Mothers are giving birth without clean water – risking deadly infections for themselves and their newborns.
The water crisis is a gender equality crisis.
Where water is scarce, inequality deepens, and those already in vulnerable situations are pushed even further behind.
Gender inequality permeates everything: who turns on a tap and who walks miles for water; whose water is safe and whose is contaminated; whose voices shape decisions on the management of rivers, aquifers and water infrastructure – and whose voices are silenced and ignored.
Access to safe water is about more than survival.
Water is life. Water is dignity. Water is a human right.
Yet climate change, pollution, conflict, and unsustainable resource extraction - including industrial agriculture and data centers that use huge quantities of water - are placing unprecedented pressure on strained water systems.
Without bold action, water scarcity will continue to fuel instability and widen inequalities.
With the UN Water Conference approaching in December, 2026 must be the year in which commitments finally become action.
States and local governments must prioritize gender-responsive water policies, budgets, plans, and programs.
The private sector must conduct due diligence on water management, based on human rights.
And the international community must strengthen cooperation over competition in managing this vital resource.
Investment in water is an investment in dignity, equality, public health, and sustainable development.
It is an investment in people – and especially an investment in women and girls.
Thank you.
This year, the theme is ‘Water and Gender’, focusing on safe water and sanitation as human rights and critical enablers of gender equality. The campaign explains that the global water crisis affects everyone, but not equally. Where people lack the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, inequalities flourish, with women and girls bearing the brunt. The actions needed to be taken are about centring women and girls in water solutions and about calling for a transformative, rights-based approach to solving the water crisis, where women’s and girls’ voices, leadership and agency are fully recognized.
Because when women and girls have equal voice and leadership in water decisions, services become more inclusive, sustainable and effective – making water a force for a healthier, more prosperous, gender-equal future that will benefit us all.
News and Media: Get the latest news from UN-Water; Understand what is happening around the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; Interact in our campaigns; Explore newly released publications and where events are taking place around the world.
PUBLICATIONS: Read the full World Water Development Report 2026, titled “Water for all people: Equal rights and opportunities,” in French and Italian. The Executive summary and the WWDR 2026 Facts, figures and action examples.
LIVESTREAM: World Water Day 2026| Water and Gender Equality: Where water flows, equality grows at ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations Headquarters, New York; On March 19th 2026 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM (New York time).The main event will take place during the final day of CSW. It is hosted by the Permanent Missions of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal, Switzerland, Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates, together with UN-Habitat, UN-Water, UN-Women, UNDESA, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNU-INWEH, IUCN and the Pan-African Intergovernmental Agency for Water and Sanitation for Africa. During the event, the UN World Water Development Report 2026, titled “Water for all people: Equal rights and opportunities,” will be officially launched. The report highlights key data and practical solutions to advance gender equality across the water sector. Get the Agenda programme & Registration in person and follow us on line on UN Web TV.
In a world shaped by climate change, growing inequalities, and increasing pressure on natural resources, water lies at the heart of our shared future.
Water is essential for life, health, food, and livelihoods. Yet for billions of people, access to safe water and sanitation remains out of reach. And while the global water crisis affects everyone, it does not affect everyone equally.
Women and girls bear the greatest impacts of the unequal access to and scarcity of water. Every day, they spend millions of hours collecting water, caring for families, and managing scarcity, often at the cost of their education, income, health, and safety. When water is unsafe or unavailable, inequalities deepen and opportunities disappear.
This reality was already recognized thirty years ago in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which underscored the central role of women in environmental sustainability and called for their full participation in the management and safeguarding of natural resources, including water. Today, those commitments are more urgent than ever.
But women are not only the most affected by the water crisis; they are also powerful agents of change.
This World Water Day, under the theme “Water and Gender Equality – Where water flows, equality grows,” we call for a transformative, rights-based approach that places women’s leadership at the centre of water solutions. We must invest in gender-responsive water governance, financing, and services; and ensure that no woman or girl is left behind.
Water can be a force for equality, resilience, and prosperity. Together, let us make it so: for all women and girls, for communities, and for generations to come.
UN Women Executive Director’s Message, Sima Sami Bahous.
Statement of the UNSG's Special Envoy on World Water Day 2026; March 22nd.
Water shapes daily life everywhere – but not equally.
For millions of women and girls, a day still begins with the search for water. It can mean long walks, missed school, lost income and exposure to danger. Around the world, women and girls spend hundreds of millions of hours each day collecting water, time that could otherwise be used for education, work and participation in community life.
Safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are human rights and the foundation of dignity, health and opportunity. Yet more than one billion women still lack access to safely managed drinking water services, and in most households without water on the premises, the responsibility for collection falls primarily to them.
This is why the water crisis is also a challenge to gender equality and women empowerment.
But women are not only those most affected – they are also leaders, innovators and agents of solutions. From women-led enterprises providing safe water to rural communities to women strengthening resilience to drought and disasters, their leadership makes water services more sustainable and inclusive.
As we prepare for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, we must accelerate action that places women and girls at the centre – not only as beneficiaries, but as partners, professionals and decision-makers. Investing in women and water will strengthen communities, economies and peace.
I am a woman. I know that when women participate in decisions and actions about water, systems work better for everyone.
Let this World Water Day be a call to act, together, so that safe water empowers every woman and every girl, everywhere.
UNSG's Special Envoy on Water, Retno Marsudi
Statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on World Water Day 2026; March 22nd.
The global promise of safe drinking water and sanitation for all is slipping through our fingers.
Today, 2.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, putting entire communities at risk of preventable diseases.
Behind these numbers are hundreds of millions of women and girls walking hours each day to fetch water, sacrificing education, opportunities, and livelihoods.
Mothers are giving birth without clean water – risking deadly infections for themselves and their newborns.
The water crisis is a gender equality crisis.
Where water is scarce, inequality deepens, and those already in vulnerable situations are pushed even further behind.
Gender inequality permeates everything: who turns on a tap and who walks miles for water; whose water is safe and whose is contaminated; whose voices shape decisions on the management of rivers, aquifers and water infrastructure – and whose voices are silenced and ignored.
Access to safe water is about more than survival.
Water is life. Water is dignity. Water is a human right.
Yet climate change, pollution, conflict, and unsustainable resource extraction - including industrial agriculture and data centers that use huge quantities of water - are placing unprecedented pressure on strained water systems.
Without bold action, water scarcity will continue to fuel instability and widen inequalities.
With the UN Water Conference approaching in December, 2026 must be the year in which commitments finally become action.
States and local governments must prioritize gender-responsive water policies, budgets, plans, and programs.
The private sector must conduct due diligence on water management, based on human rights.
And the international community must strengthen cooperation over competition in managing this vital resource.
Investment in water is an investment in dignity, equality, public health, and sustainable development.
It is an investment in people – and especially an investment in women and girls.
Thank you.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
GET INVOLVED: The 2026 campaign is led by UNICEF and UN Women, who co-coordinate a dedicated Task Force of over 30 UN-Water Members and Partners. World Water Day is coordinated by UN-Water. The campaign called ‘Where water flows, equality grows’ – is now live.
This year, the theme is ‘Water and Gender’, focusing on safe water and sanitation as human rights and critical enablers of gender equality. The campaign explains that the global water crisis affects everyone, but not equally. Where people lack the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, inequalities flourish, with women and girls bearing the brunt. The actions needed to be taken are about centring women and girls in water solutions and about calling for a transformative, rights-based approach to solving the water crisis, where women’s and girls’ voices, leadership and agency are fully recognized.
Because when women and girls have equal voice and leadership in water decisions, services become more inclusive, sustainable and effective – making water a force for a healthier, more prosperous, gender-equal future that will benefit us all.
- Learn more, share content and take action here.
- To explore the themes of previous World Water Day campaigns, please visit this page.
- Access the campaign resources in the dedicated Trello board.
- For media and interview requests, contact us on: unwater@un.org mentioning [Media request] in the subject heading.
News and Media: Get the latest news from UN-Water; Understand what is happening around the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; Interact in our campaigns; Explore newly released publications and where events are taking place around the world.
PUBLICATIONS: Read the full World Water Development Report 2026, titled “Water for all people: Equal rights and opportunities,” in French and Italian. The Executive summary and the WWDR 2026 Facts, figures and action examples.
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