{"id":49158,"title":"Thousands of women are transforming their lives thanks to access to water","type":"actualidad","template":"","content":"Around the world, there are still millions of women<\/strong> whose day begins with walking miles to fetch water<\/strong>. For decades, carrying heavy buckets has been part of their daily routine\u2014and that of their mothers and grandmothers. But that reality is beginning to change. Today, thanks to safe access to water, thousands of women are transforming their lives<\/strong>, regaining time, health, and the ability to make decisions about their own lives and those of their communities.\r\n\r\nTo commemorate World Water Day<\/strong>, celebrated on March 22, Ayuda en Acci\u00f3n wants to highlight a reality that remains a global challenge: around 1.8 billion people worldwide still lack access to safe drinking water in their homes.\r\n\r\nIn most cases, moreover, women are responsible for getting it. In two out of every three households, women are the ones who fetch water<\/strong>, a task that involves long daily walks. It is estimated that women and girls<\/strong> together spend 250 million hours a day<\/strong> on this work\u2014more than three times as much as men and boys.\r\n\r\nThis inequality has direct consequences: it limits girls\u2019 and women\u2019s access to education, reduces their employment opportunities, and increases health risks, especially when the available water is unsafe.\r\n\r\nWhen Water Changes Lives<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn 2025<\/strong>, our water and sanitation projects provided 70,000 people with access to safe drinking water for the first time. Of these, about 25,000 live in Latin America and 45,000 in Africa.\r\n\r\nHalf of them are women who today not only use water but also participate in its management and even lead decisions regarding its use within their communities.\r\n\r\nAccess to safe water<\/strong> has a direct impact on their daily lives:\r\n\r\n- They regain the time they used to spend walking for hours to fetch water.\r\n\r\n- Their health and well-being improve as illnesses associated with consuming contaminated water are reduced.\r\n\r\n- Their autonomy increases as they participate in water committees, make decisions about water resources, and plan for their community\u2019s future.\r\n\r\n\u201cEnsuring access to water<\/strong> isn\u2019t just about turning on a tap: it\u2019s about opening up opportunities for women<\/strong> to thrive, make decisions, and lead,\u201d explains Andr\u00e9s Oleas, a specialist in Social and Environmental Water Management at Ayuda en Acci\u00f3n in Ecuador.\r\n\r\nCommunities Leading the Change<\/strong>\r\n\r\nEcuador is one of the countries where we have carried out the most projects related to the social and environmental management of water. There, we have provided access to drinking water<\/strong> to more than 165,000 people through the construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of more than 400 water systems.\r\n\r\nThe work also includes the protection of more than 650 hectares of moorlands, native forests, and water recharge areas, which are essential for ensuring the long-term availability of this resource.\r\n\r\nIn addition, there is the National Water School, a training center where communities learn to manage and care for their water systems. Furthermore, a web application has been developed to facilitate community-based water management.\r\n\r\nIn rural communities across the country, women like Carmen, president of her local water board in Azuay, now lead these systems. Thanks to the training they have received, they manage the service, plan for the sustainable use of the resource, and promote environmental initiatives such as the protection of water sources and moorlands.\r\n\r\nWomen in water leadership<\/strong>\r\n\r\nOur projects aim to provide access to safe water, but also to promote hygiene, sanitation, and community-based water management practices<\/strong>. Our main areas of focus include:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Construction and rehabilitation of water systems in rural communities, including wells, water collection systems, and distribution networks.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Installation of sanitation infrastructure in schools and community spaces.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Hygiene education programs to prevent disease and promote sustainable habits.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Community-based water management, ensuring that the resource is managed equitably and sustainably by the community itself, with a special focus on women<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nThis female leadership is evident in other parts of the world.\r\n\r\nIn Mexico<\/strong>, women are involved in rainwater harvesting and storage projects.\r\n\r\nIn Mozambique<\/strong>, they lead the rehabilitation and maintenance of wells that supply their communities.\r\n\r\nIn El Salvador<\/strong>, they manage mangrove restoration initiatives to protect ecosystems and ensure access to water in the future.\r\n\r\nA global challenge that requires female leadership<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDespite progress, universal access to water remains an unmet goal. The\u00a0United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6<\/a>\u00a0aims to ensure access to water<\/strong> and sanitation for all by 2030, but the current pace of progress is still insufficient.\r\n\r\nClimate change, pollution, and growing pressure on water resources make women\u2019s participation in water management<\/strong> increasingly important.\r\n\r\nAs Fiorella Mackliff, manager of Ayuda en Acci\u00f3n in Ecuador, points out, \u201cEvery safe water project that reaches a community is also a project to empower women. When women gain access to water, they gain access to time, opportunities, and the ability to make decisions about their own lives.\u201d<\/em>","excerpt":"","slug":"access-safe-water-women-impact","image":{"alt":"Ni\u00f1a abriendo fuente ","caption":"","height":1440,"src":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Dia_Mundial_Del_Agua-150x113.png","small":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Dia_Mundial_Del_Agua-480x360.png","medium":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Dia_Mundial_Del_Agua-1024x768.png","large":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Dia_Mundial_Del_Agua.png","original":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Dia_Mundial_Del_Agua.png"},"width":1920},"date":"2026-03-17 12:32:39","":{"actualidad_description_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualidad\/49158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualidad"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/actualidad"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayudaenaccion.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}