International Women’s Day
Today we are celebrating International Women’s Day!
Today, we recognise women’s achievements worldwide, raise awareness about discrimination and inequality, and take collective and individual action to drive gender parity.
According to the United Nations, International Women’s Day started in The United States of America in 1909, when the Socialist Party of America took to the streets to honor garment workers who had protested against inhumane working conditions in 1908. It wasn’t until March 8, 1975, when, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations celebrated it as an official holiday. Since 1975, International Women’s Day has gained awareness around the globe as a way to recognize and celebrate women.
The United Nations’ theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023 is, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”.
According to the UN, IWD 2023 will explore the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities. The event will also spotlight the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces and addressing online and ICT-facilitated gender-based violence. By 2050, 75% of jobs will be related to STEM areas. Yet today, women hold just 22% of positions in artificial intelligence, to name just one. (UN Women). Bringing women and other marginalized groups into technology results in more creative solutions and has greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality.
“Giving women equal opportunities in STEM careers helps reduce the gender wage gap, improves women’s economic security, ensures a diverse and talented workforce, and prevents bias. Not only do women need the opportunities, but their communities and countries urgently require their contribution to find new solutions to the problems we face as a society,” said Maria Noel Vaeza. Vaeza is the Regional Director for the Americas at UN Women and through this role works to raise awareness of the problem in the region, enact concrete change and empower women.
At Drop4Drop, we strive to create the same opportunities for women that men already have by relieving them from the burden of water collection. This allows them more time in education and work- if they choose. This opens up opportunities and brighter futures, allowing women more agency and freedom in their lives.
Additionally, we collaborate with women in the communities we work in, creating an inclusive space where women and girls can thrive and be involved. We give women, the primary water gatherers, the resources they need to repair wells themselves with in-depth business training, well-repair expertise, and water well committee training. Now villages reach out to their local women repair technicians instead of waiting months.
For example, our in-country partner in South Sudan is training women in well repair so they can take the lead in the provision of clean water. Last year, 20 women graduated training and joined the team of pump mechanics repairing clean water wells as well as receiving hygiene training.
Unfortunately, women in developing nations are disproportionately affected by poor access to a clean water source. Women and children collectively walk 200 million miles a day to collect, often dirty and unsafe, water. This burden more commonly falls to women as the gender roles in these areas mean that this is a traditional household task for women. 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.
Help us on our mission to empower women through clean water solutions.
Donate to a project or fund a dedicated well through the link on our website!