World Water Day: SEI on the intersection of water management and gender equality

World Water Day is an observance designated by the United Nations to celebrate the importance of our freshwater resources. Every year the UN highlights a specific aspect of water aimed at advancing sustainable development goal six: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

This year’s theme for World Water Day is water and gender, emphasizing the importance of the intersection between women’s equality and sustainable water management. This theme explores not only how women often collect and manage water, but also how they should be involved in water decision-making, leadership, funding and representation.

World Water Day is important for both SEI’s work and sustainable development goals because water plays a critical role in our food systems, climate, health and biodiversity. It is not only ideal, but essential that we protect our freshwater resources to ensure that future generations have adequate, clean water for drinking, agriculture and industry.

SEI has made a broad array of contributions to protect our freshwater resources while also promoting gender equality. Navigate this page for our research and insights on water and gender.

woman with her baby on her back drinking water in a pond

Prevalence of enteric pathogens in mothers and children from communities in the La Paz River Basin Bolivia; associations with water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions

Journal article / Study reveals widespread enteric infections in Bolivia, with strong links to water quality, sanitation and hygiene conditions in rural communities.

24 March 2026 / About Sanitation and Water resources

Aerial view of the city of Tupiza, Bolivia, on a sunny day. Buildings line the Tupiza River, cutting through the middle of the foreground, with a bridge that runs across it. Mountains line the background and the sun shines in the blue sky.

Socially responsive water adaptation planning: lessons from community informed water modelling in Bolivia and Cambodia

Journal article / This journal article describes how community-informed water systems modelling has fostered more resilient, equitable water management in Cambodia and Bolivia.

11 February 2026 / About Planning and modelling and Water resources

No time to waste: a synthesis of evidence on time reallocation following water, sanitation and hygiene interventions

Journal article / This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates time use and time-savings related to WASH interventions in low- and middle-income countries.

2 October 2025 / About Public policy, Sanitation, Water resources and Wellbeing

Designing gender-inclusive data systems in small-scale fisheries

Journal article / This article aims to address gender data gaps in the small-scale fisheries sector.

28 October 2025 / About Food and agriculture

Shifting the aquaculture regime toward gender equity? Case studies of women’s entrepreneurial niche innovations in Bangladesh

Journal article / This article investigates how women’s aquaculture entrepreneurship can help address the persistent challenges.

21 July 2025 / About Food and agriculture

People collecting water from well in small village, Bangladesh

Assessing the importance of gender transformative WASH: evidence from a gender-mainstreamed WASH programme in Bangladesh

Journal article / This study explores how gender-transformative WASH interventions can contribute to women’s empowerment and broader social change.

15 July 2025 / About Sanitation and Water resources

Examining water and gender narratives and realities

Journal article / This paper describes how unequal gender relationships to water are manifested and how they can be addressed.

29 August 2022 / About Sanitation and Water resources

A couple of men carrying buckets on their heads

Gender equality and social inclusion in WASH interventions: policy and practice insights from a systematic mapping exercise

Other publication / This evidence brief provides policy-relevant insights from a comprehensive mapping of evidence of GESI outcomes related to WASH interventions.

9 February 2023 / About Participation, Sanitation and Water resources

Children walking to a nearby river to get water in Lao PDR

Systematic mapping of gender equality and social inclusion in WASH interventions: knowledge clusters and gaps

Journal article / This review collates the literature on GESI outcomes in the context of WASH interventions and highlights knowledge gaps and clusters in the evidence base.

25 January 2023 / About Sanitation and Water resources

A woman walking through a field in Tanzania carrying a bucket on her head.

Gender and social outcomes of WASH interventions: synthesis of research evidence

Other publication / This systematic evidence synthesis collated evidence on the impact of WASH interventions on GESI outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.

28 March 2023 / About Participation, Sanitation and Water resources

What is the impact of complex WASH interventions on gender and social equality outcomes in low- and middle-income countries? A mixed-method systematic review protocol

Journal article / This protocol explains the approach of a review looking at evidence on the gender and social equality outcomes of complex WASH interventions.

26 May 2021 / About Sanitation

Empowerment in WASH Index

SEI brief / Learn about the Empowerment in WASH Index (EWI), a new tool for measuring empowerment in the water, sanitation and health sector.

8 October 2019 / About Sanitation, Sustainable Development Goals, Water resources and Wellbeing

A woman washing her hands in an outdoor sink.

Innovative decision support tools for WASH services

Feature / Discover five cutting-edge WASH tools for sustainable, data-driven decision-making in water and sanitation management.

16 November 2023 / About Cities, Food and agriculture, Innovation, Planning and modelling and Sanitation

Hand holding pile of raw white coffee beans

Narratives from the Campoalegre watershed, where opportunity is scarce

Feature / Rural communities in Colombia's Campoalegre watershed struggle to meet basic needs. SEI researchers aim to connect them to policymakers to improve their lives.

21 March 2022 / About Business, Climate policy, Climate services, Disaster risk, Food and agriculture, Land use, Participation, Public policy, Sanitation, Water resources and Wellbeing

Making gender count in water, sanitation and health

Feature / The Empowerment in WASH Index, a new survey tool, makes gender disparities in water, sanitation and hygiene services visible and measurable.

2 July 2020 / About Participation and Sanitation

New diagnostic tool for more gender-inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene services

Feature / Does digging a well, building a toilet or providing a water pipe connection automatically improve gender equality?

28 August 2019 / About Participation, Sanitation, Sustainable Development Goals and Wellbeing

Gender and social equality in WASH

Feature / SEI researchers examine the impact of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions on gender and social equality in low- and middle-income countries.

4 August 2020 / About Sanitation

Why gender-inclusion matters in building climate resilience in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta 

Perspective / This blog sheds light on how GS4Infra project integrates resilience and inclusivity into the communities’ infrastructure in Vietnam's Cù Lao Dung district.

24 June 2025 / About Adaptation, Climate policy and Participation

A participant stands and shares her thoughts with a group during a discussion session. Several people sit around a table covered with papers, maps, and sticky notes, listening attentively.

Bringing local voice, equity and equality in managing water storage systems in the Mekong Region

Perspective / Chea Sameang and Ridhi Saluja share perspectives on how water storage mechanisms in the Mekong Region can be more equitable and inclusive.

12 September 2024 / About Disaster risk, Food and agriculture, Participation and Water resources

Women collecting water from a lake in Rajasthan, India.

The next Water Action Agenda must be gender transformative

Perspective / The UN Water Conference should include commitments related to gender and social inclusion, and provide transformative action.

21 February 2023 / About Public policy, Sanitation, Sustainable Development Goals and Water resources

Topics and subtopics: Water : Water resources, Water-Energy-Food Nexus / Gender : Sanitation, Participation
Tags: equality, natural resources, SDGs, equity