World Water Day celebration will explore water inequity
Dr. Susan Elliott shares how improving access to water, sanitation supports equity
By Karen Hock, PhD candidate in the School of Public Health Sciences
Imagine having to walk for hours to get water for your family every day. That’s the reality for millions of women and girls around the world.
“Water is a gendered issue,” says Dr. Susan Elliott, a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University Research Chair in Medical Geography and member of the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo. Globally, women and girls spend 250 million hours fetching water every day and another 260 million hours looking for a place to go to the bathroom. This leaves them vulnerable to violence and abuse, while limiting their opportunities for education and work.
Improving access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services supports gender equity. But as Dr. Elliott’s research shows, water inequity also stems from broader intersections of race, class, and geography. And while many people think this crisis is limited to Africa, water inequity happens closer to home, too.
About 1 per cent of the Canadian population lives without access to clean water or sanitation, particularly those in Indigenous communities. In the United States, inadequate plumbing most commonly affects Black and Hispanic households, as well as those in mobile homes. And climate change is expected to further threaten the safety of drinking water worldwide, as heavier storms and floods become more common and can easily overwhelm outdated water treatment systems.
This year, World Water Day highlights the need for water equity, ensuring safe water and sanitation for everyone. As part of the celebration at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Elliott is hosting a panel discussion titled “Water Equity and Shared Responsibility: Intersectional Perspectives from Research and Practice.” Featuring diverse voices, the panel will explore how gender, race, and other social factors shape unequal access to water and sanitation across Canada and abroad.
According to Dr. Elliott, the key to achieving water equity starts with educating girls. “Educated women delay marriage, have fewer children, and are more empowered to influence decisions about water,” she says. Individually, we can all take meaningful steps to encourage a more equitable world, including supporting non-profit organizations, joining campus initiatives, or advocating for water-related issues.
“Everything relates to water,” Dr. Elliott reminds us. And ensuring equitable access to clean water means a better future for us all.
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Photo: Karen Hock, PhD candidate in the School of Public Health Sciences