In the media reporting of events and occurrences, the 5Ws (+ an H) are important.
No story will be fully understood and appreciated by the reader unless the questions who, what, where, when, why and how are answered in it.
This month, two other Ws are at the center of social issues – WOMEN and WATER.
Interestingly, the two are celebrated less than two weeks apart. The celebration of World Water Day on March 22 comes on the heels of the March 8 International Women’s Day.
But what or where’s the connection? The link is underscored in the theme of World Water Day 2026: “Where Water Flows, Equality Grows.”
That interconnectedness is depicted by UN among issues related to water, women, and gender equality.
On the surface, the connection may sound incongruent but the logic and the facts shared by the United Nations, which is at the forefront of the celebration, show the deep-rooted relationship between the two Ws.
Consider the following facts and figures shared by UN as compiled by its various agencies and partners:
• More than 1 billion women – or more than a quarter of all women (27.1%) – lack access to safely-managed drinking water services.
• Locally, we may have easy access to potable water supply, but elsewhere, about 1.8 billion people still do not have drinking water on-premises, and in two out of three households, women are primarily responsible for water collection.
• In 53 countries with available data, women and girls spend are tasked to engage in water collection and they spend at least 250 million hours per day doing the job – with the total time estimated to be over three times more than men and boys.
• Unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene are responsible for the global deaths of around 1,000 children under 5 years old every day.
• About 14% of countries still have no mechanisms to ensure women can participate equally in water-related decision-making and water management.
The glaring facts and figures apparently serve as the springboard for the choice of the campaign focus of the WWD 2026 celebration.
The global focus on the state of water supply reminds me of the account of an academic colleague shared to me when I attended a conference in India several years ago.
He said the supply of potable water is a major problem in many rural areas in his country, particularly during the dry season. Among the common problems is the contamination of groundwater with, among others, arsenic, salinity and nitrate.
Add to the picture the difficulty encountered by women and girls who are compelled to do the daily task, many of whom walk at least 5 kms. to fetch water and also bear the burden of carrying the supply – 20+ pounds.
In the process, they lose precious time that can be spent for other domestic and community chores and unnecessarily face health-related issues.
The situation is worse in rural communities in Africa, where women are the primary water collectors at least 70 percent of the households, prompting social scientists to describe their role as “overly gendered.” A similar rate is also reported in remote areas of the Asian continent.
The following explanation by UN allows us to grasp the rationale of the promotional focus this year:
“Where water flows, equality grows.”
The global water crisis affects everyone – but not equally.
“Where people lack safe drinking water and sanitation close to home, inequalities flourish, with women and girls bearing the brunt” for they collect and manage water care for people made sick by unsafe water.
“They lose time, health, safety, and opportunities. And too often, the systems that govern water leave women and girls out of decision-making, leadership, funding and representation.”
Thus, UN emphasized, this makes the water crisis a women’s crisis.
The world body proposes the following courses of action:
• “We need a transformative, rights-based approach to solving these challenges, where women’s voices are heard and their agency recognized.”
• “All women must be equitably represented at all levels of water leadership – helping design every pipe and policy.”
• “Women must drive change in water as engineers, farmers, scientists, sanitation workers and community leaders.”
UN underscored the need for everybody “to play their full part: managing water as a common good and building resilience for the future. This includes engaging men and boys as allies in promoting safe water, sanitation and hygiene for all, and in challenging the norms and behaviors that hold women and girls back.”
Where water flows, equality grows. When women and girls have equal voice in water decisions, services become more inclusive, sustainable and effective. We must invest in women’s leadership to make water a force for a healthier, more prosperous, gender-equal future that will benefit us all, UN reiterates.
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Another significant event this month – on March 23 – is World Meteorological Day.
The day celebrates efforts of the World Meteorological Organization in observing the Earth to protect communities today and build resilience for tomorrow.
The observance is particularly of significance to the Philippines as the country is annually lashed by typhoons every year bringing damage and destruction to life and property.
The celebration this year is focused on n the theme, “Observing Today, Protecting Tomorrow”. Explaining the focus of the event, WMO said climate disturbances know no borders and water connects different parts of the world, thus the challenge is for wide-scale observation and reliable data-sharing.
We trust that thus year’s celebration will generate greater global awareness on weather-related initiatives to promote greater public safety.
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Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:14) | NWI
