International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day, it is celebrated every year on the 8th of March! The day has been celebrated for over a century, as the first International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1911. It was the suffragettes who first celebrated the day as an attempt to purposefully forge equality for women. The day is not owned by any one organisation or country, as the struggle for women’s equality should be shared by all those who care about creating gender equity. The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #EachforEqual, as it is highlighting that an equal world is an enabled world and collectively we can help create a gender equal world.
Some of the central values of International Women’s Day are justice, dignity, respect and equality. DROP4DROP is an organisation which proudly shares the same values as International Women’s Day and is dedicated to the mission of providing clean water for all. Unfortunately, women in developing nations are disproportionately affected by poor access to a clean water source. On average, women in rural Africa walk 6 kilometres a day to haul over 40 pounds of water. This burden more commonly falls to women as the gender roles within developing nations mean that this is a traditional household task for women. The WHO found in 2017 that women and girls were responsible for the water collection in 8 out of 10 households. However, this daily task is extremely time consuming and therefore it robs women of the opportunity to spend more time with their families or become a productive community member. Clean water solutions have been proven to be an effective method of poverty eradication as for every $1 invested in water and sanitation there is an economic return of between $3-$34 (WHO). Meaning that, the sustainable clean water solutions provided by drop4drop help to raise women out of poverty and create a more equitable world for all.
Moreover, lack of clean water also impacts girls attendance to schools in developing nations. As girls are more likely to drop out of school when they start menstruating if they do not have access to clean water and hygiene training. Therefore providing access to clean water has the potential to improve girls attendance and productivity in education. There are also huge health impacts associated with women having poor access to clean water as within childbirth it can contribute to high rates of disease and the untimely death of mothers. DROP4DROP work with local in country partners to ensure that women have access to clean water which has been proven to decrease the risks associated with childbirth.
Help drop4drop on their mission to empower women through clean water solutions. Donate to a project or fund a dedicated well through the link on our website.