The Renevlyn Development Initiative has urged the Federal and State Governments to adopt gender-conscious approaches when formulating policies to address the nation’s water crisis.
The call came in a statement as part of activities to mark the 2026 World Water Day with the theme “Water and Gender”.
The global commemorations led by UN Women and UNICEF focus on the critical link between water access and gender equality, highlighting that water inequality disproportionately affects women and girls.
They referenced the challenges of women and the girl child in Nigeria and most countries of the Global South, especially the physical and mental exhaustion they experience in sourcing water.
Tracy Ohovwore, RDI Project Officer, noted that the situation in most communities across Nigeria readily comes to mind highlighting the lack of accessibility.
“The daily drudgery women and the girl child contend with due to the dry taps in their communities is real. Disturbingly the situation we describe is not only in the rural communities; in cities like Lagos and Abuja it is the same.
That is why the theme of this year’s commemoration is a wake-up call to the government at all levels to be gender conscious in addressing the avoidable water challenges in the country,” Ohovwore said.
She noted that women and the girl child are disproportionately affected when access to water is a challenge because they are the ones who go the distance, often facing risks in search of water.
In many cases, the girl child ends up not going to school to satisfy the home’s water needs, according to Ohovwore.
“Yet there’s another often-overlooked situation: When there’s no water, the physical hygiene of women also takes a hit, exposing them to disease and illness. So, the current systems are a lose-lose for women,” she said.
Ohovwore said RDI is in total alignment with the recommendation of the UN that women and girls be placed at the center of water solutions if Nigeria is serious about achieving two key Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).
“This year’s commemoration should not be mere sloganeering. The government must be deliberate in adopting gender-responsive strategies and they must cover the whole gamut from water management, water governance, and in the development and siting of water infrastructure,” Ohovwore insisted.
The statement emphasized that water inequality affects women and girls through physical exhaustion from water collection, missed educational opportunities, health risks from poor hygiene, and overall gender inequality perpetuated by inadequate water access.
RDI called on government at all levels to ensure that water policies and infrastructure development take into account the specific needs and challenges faced by women and girls in accessing safe water