Against the current: how water access affects women and men differently — and how to change it

Veranstaltungsart
World Water Day 2026: Online debate

Ort / Datum
Online, 24.03.2026

Veranstalter

Bonn Water Network

In line with the UN’s 2026 World Water Day campaign ‘Where water flows, equality grows’, the Bonn Water Network* invites you to its debate on changing roles of women in water management and governance. The story is not a new one: in many countries, women bear the brunt of water insecurity. They are the ones hauling heavy water jugs over kilometres, often exposed to harassment or sextortion along the way. They keep households and sometimes entire villages functioning when water is scarce – especially in communities with large male out-migration. In many regions, this has increasingly feminised water management and agricultural labour, making women the primary managers of household survival and community resilience. Yet despite this responsibility, women’s influence over water allocation remains limited - decisions about drinking water and irrigation flows are often still dominated by men. Nevertheless, gender-water dynamics are changing. These changes offer critical entry points to improve water access and use for both women and men, and to advance women’s empowerment. Two key questions are at the centre of our debate:

  • How does water access affect men and women differently?
    Panellists will dive deeper into the lived reality of women in different settings to better understand how water flows are not only physical and shaped by infrastructure, but also subject to power relations and inclusion or exclusion.
     
  • Which opportunities for inclusive water governance emerge, and which approaches have proven useful?
    Panellists will exchange on best practices for gender-balanced water governance and explore the role of infrastructure design, labour division, migration patterns, land tenure systems, climate change, sociocultural factors and governance arrangements.
     

We are happy to explore these questions with four experts:

  • Abigail Erikson, Acting Head of UN Women, Bonn; Chief, UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and Girls
  • Ivan Zupan, Head of Programmes in Bangladesh, Kenya, Mexico, and Uganda, Water Integrity Network (WIN)
  • Hind Ftouhi, Lecturer and researcher at the Institut National d’Aménagement et d'Urbanisme (INAU), Morocco
  • Anindita Sarkar, Professor at the University of Delhi, India, and Senior Researcher at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany

Following expert input on the two key questions, the floor will open for discussion. The event will be moderated by Annabelle Houdret, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

We are looking forward to discussing these issues with you!

 

*The Bonn Water Network consists of eleven renowned institutions with longstanding experience on water and related issues: the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC); Bonn University with its Institute of Geography (GIUB) holding the UNESCO Chair in Human Water Systems, the Center for Development Research (ZEF) and the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health (IHPH); the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS); the IUCN Environmental Law Centre; and three Bonn-based UN institutions: the United Nations Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Global Water Operators Partnerships Alliance (UN-Habitat/GWOPA). In addition, Berlin- based Water Integrity Network (WIN) and the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICGWRC) based in Koblenz are partners of the BWN. For more information: www.bonnwaternetwork.de.

 

Hinweis

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