Women across sub-Saharan Africa suffer from inadequate access to safe water. In addition to the personal struggles this creates, their children often suffer from life-threatening bouts of diarrhea and many are malnourished. President Sirleaf summed up the problem when she spoke before at a summit on international poverty reduction, “Without more progress in providing access to safe water and effective sanitation, children will continue to miss school, health costs will continue to be a drag on national economies, adults will continue to miss work, and women and girls, and it’s almost always women and girls, will continue to spend hours every day fetching water, typically from dirty sources.”
Investing in Women
There are roughly three and a half billion people in the global talent pool whose earning capacity is restricted due to one simple factor – gender. This is a huge problem throughout the world; with women in developed countries such as the U.S. earning nearly 20% less than their male counterparts. In less developed countries, poor families already struggling for survival are hamstrung by limitations on the earning capacity of the female population.
Throughout rural Niger, in fact-across all of sub-Saharan Africa, women and girls are left with the responsibility of spending hours each day collecting water from remote, dangerous, not to mention often- contaminated sources. Beyond this, they are responsible for purchasing increasingly expensive food, and looking after the home and children amongst many other tasks. This means that women not only suffer economic poverty but also an incredible time deficiency. As a result of this massive burden, young girls spend less time in school than boys, and women spend the majority of their time attempting to scrape together the bare essentials of life, dependent on money brought in by the males of the family.
International Women’s Day
When women thrive, all of society benefits, and succeeding generations are given a better start in life.” -Kofi Annan
Imagine
In developing countries like Niger, women are victims of forced marriage, violence, and sex trafficking. The burden placed on women is enormous. Everyday, mothers must walk miles just to give their children something to drink, massive amounts of effort expended on such a basic human necessity when school books remain untouched and pockets remain empty.
Women and the WASH Crisis
Women must play a central role in bringing clean water and adequate sanitation to their communities. If the WASH crisis is to be resolved, women must lead the charge.
The Power of Microfinance
Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Give a woman a microcredit, she, her husband, her children, and her extended family will eat for a lifetime. – Bono
Niger’s hunger crisis could lead to more child marriages
The Washington Post published a chilling story on July 9 about how the famine in West Africa could lead to even more child marriages in Niger, which already has the world’s highest rate of child marriage.
Daughters Sold as Conditions in Niger Worsen
Daughters Sold as Conditions in Niger Worsen
Mother’s Day in Niger
A Recent Study Ranks Niger as the Worst Place to Be A Mother
A Shorter Walk to Water Saves Children’s Lives
A new study by Stanford researchers published by the journal Environmental Science and Technology shows that decreasing the amount of time families must walk to obtain clean water can help save the lives of young children.
