{"id":8869,"date":"2023-11-16T22:17:21","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T15:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=8869"},"modified":"2023-11-16T22:17:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T15:17:21","slug":"solutions-to-water-access-that-uplift-women-globally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=8869","title":{"rendered":"Solutions to Water Access That Uplift Women Globally"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p> <span class=\"drop-cap__first text-dropcap \">I<\/span>n the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and Guam, lies the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Made up of hundreds of tiny islands and about 30 atolls (ring-shaped islands with lagoons in the center), the country is more ocean than it is land. But despite being surrounded on all sides by water, the 60,000 residents haven\u2019t ever had reliable access to clean drinking water.<\/p>\n<p>Most Marshall Islands residents have long relied on traditional rainwater harvesting, which is easier to set up and manage than water utility systems in such a remote region. But as droplets fall on roofs and run into catchment systems, the water can become contaminated with bacteria from animal poop and debris. Groundwater, which is used in times of drought, is just as bad, if not worse, because sea level rise is causing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4441\/9\/1\/41\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4441\/9\/1\/41\">salt water to infiltrate the freshwater aquifers underground.<\/a> Residents frequently got sick with waterborne diseases, like <a href=\"https:\/\/pidp.eastwestcenter.org\/our-work\/climate-health-and-migration-in-the-marshall-islands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/pidp.eastwestcenter.org\/our-work\/climate-health-and-migration-in-the-marshall-islands\/\">gastroenteritis and cholera<\/a>, which caused malnutrition and other health issues. \u201c[We&#8217;ve spent] so much money trying to provide medication to or cure people and children suffering from all these waterborne diseases,\u201d explains <a href=\"https:\/\/www.informea.org\/en\/person\/239515\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.informea.org\/en\/person\/239515\">Moriana Phillip<\/a>, general manager of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in the RMI.<\/p>\n<p>Lack of clean water isn\u2019t unique to the Marshall Islands. According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/data.unicef.org\/resources\/jmp-report-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/data.unicef.org\/resources\/jmp-report-2023\/\">2023 UNICEF report<\/a>, over 2.2 billion people around the world don\u2019t have access to safely managed drinking water, which is <a href=\"https:\/\/data.unicef.org\/topic\/water-and-sanitation\/drinking-water\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/data.unicef.org\/topic\/water-and-sanitation\/drinking-water\/\">defined<\/a> as \u201cdrinking water from an improved source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from fecal and chemical contamination.\u201d In some rural or impoverished areas, water treatment infrastructure was never established so residents are left to drink untreated well water, rainfall, or surface water like lakes and streams\u2014which is often contaminated by pollutants from the surrounding watershed (like agricultural fertilizers or animal waste). However, lack of clean water access can also result from aging infrastructure and government mismanagement (like in the case of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/flint-water-crisis-mental-health\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/flint-water-crisis-mental-health\/\">Flint, Michigan<\/a>) and\/or natural disasters (like in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/jackson-mississippi-water-emergency\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/jackson-mississippi-water-emergency\/\">Jackson, Mississippi<\/a>).<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;A water crisis is definitely a women&#8217;s crisis.&#8221; \u2014Anu Paudyal Gautum, knowledge management specialist, UNICEF&#8217;s WASH program<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Ensuring access to clean drinking water can be complicated in places where infrastructure is either nonexistent or poor and often requires a significant amount of funding and on-the-ground coordination. But the results are game-changing for local communities\u2014particularly, for the women who are disproportionately impacted by the effects of inequitable access to clean water. \u201cA water crisis is definitely a women\u2019s crisis,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.comminit.com\/unicef\/users\/anu-paudyal-gautam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.comminit.com\/unicef\/users\/anu-paudyal-gautam\">Anu Paudyal Gautum<\/a>, a knowledge management specialist in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/wash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/wash\">UNICEF\u2019s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When I witnessed the local, women-led nonprofit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/korainokrane\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/korainokrane\/\">Kora in Okrane<\/a> (KIO) distribute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sawyer.com\/products\/international-bucket-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.sawyer.com\/products\/international-bucket-system\">Sawyer water filter systems<\/a> to households in the Marshall Islands this past July during a trip with Sawyer to report on KIO\u2019s water project, I saw women and kids watch attentively\u2014some pulling out their phones to take videos of the silty water that turned crystal clear as it emerged from the filter\u2014as the men sat on the sidelines. And throughout the rest of my trip, I repeatedly saw first-hand how women are at the forefront of the movement to eradicate the very water-access issues that primarily leave them out to dry.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline pr-6 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/water-access-women\/\" current-title=\"How the World Water Crisis Disproportionately Impacts Women\" current-image=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Gendered-access-to-clean-water_418x278_true_70.webp\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2023-05-16\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/water-access-women\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/water-access-women\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/water-access-women\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>The health and safety risks of unclean water<\/h2>\n<p>In the U.S., where most households have clean, plentiful water running through a tap at all times, it\u2019s hard to imagine what it means to live without it. (Keyword is <em>most <\/em>here; Native American households in the U.S. are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acf.hhs.gov\/blog\/2022\/08\/addressing-water-and-wastewater-challenges-tribal-nations#:~:text=Native%20American%20households%20are%2019,without%20access%20to%20running%20water.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.acf.hhs.gov\/blog\/2022\/08\/addressing-water-and-wastewater-challenges-tribal-nations#:~:text=Native%20American%20households%20are%2019,without%20access%20to%20running%20water.\">19 times more likely<\/a> than white households to live without running water, and predominantly Black communities like Flint and Jackson have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6309965\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6309965\/\">experienced public health crises<\/a> from unsafe drinking water.) But clean water isn\u2019t just for drinking; it affects every aspect of life like nutrition, hygiene, mental health, and safety.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.niehs.nih.gov\/research\/programs\/climatechange\/health_impacts\/waterborne_diseases\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.niehs.nih.gov\/research\/programs\/climatechange\/health_impacts\/waterborne_diseases\/index.cfm\">Waterborne diseases<\/a>, like diarrhea, giardia, typhoid fever, and E.Coli infection, are the most common (and obvious) result of unsafe drinking water. Many people suffer from dehydration and nutritional deficiencies when they can\u2019t keep water in. Over the long term, this can lead to malnutrition, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/stories\/4-things-you-need-know-about-water-and-famine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/stories\/4-things-you-need-know-about-water-and-famine\">especially in children<\/a>. Many areas also lack proper hygiene and sanitation services as a result of insecure water access, which increases the risk of preventable infection and disease. But it\u2019s not just physical health that is affected; the stress of water scarcity and collection can take a major toll on people\u2019s mental health and can lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/iwaponline.com\/jwh\/article\/15\/1\/17\/28427\/Psychosocial-impacts-of-the-lack-of-access-to\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/iwaponline.com\/jwh\/article\/15\/1\/17\/28427\/Psychosocial-impacts-of-the-lack-of-access-to\">increased rates of depression and anxiety<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n<p>As climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather patterns, the world water crisis worsens. Drought conditions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/climatechange\/science\/climate-issues\/water?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/climatechange\/science\/climate-issues\/water?\">lead to water scarcity<\/a>, causing people to compete for resources or collect from dirty sources. Rising sea levels <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ipcc.ch\/pdf\/technical-papers\/climate-change-water-en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/archive.ipcc.ch\/pdf\/technical-papers\/climate-change-water-en.pdf\">contaminate groundwater and other fresh water sources<\/a> so it becomes salty and undrinkable. And natural disasters, like hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, can destroy or contaminate water supplies or infrastructure. For all of these reasons, roughly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/report\/ar6\/wg2\/chapter\/summary-for-policymakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/report\/ar6\/wg2\/chapter\/summary-for-policymakers\/\">half of the world\u2019s population experiences water scarcity<\/a> for at least part of the year\u2014a figure that\u2019s projected to increase if the climate crisis worsens.<\/p>\n<h2>The unique impact of water scarcity on women and girls<\/h2>\n<p>In societies without safe drinking water, everyone is affected. But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news\/item\/06-07-2023-women-and-girls-bear-brunt-of-water-and-sanitation-crisis---new-unicef-who-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news\/item\/06-07-2023-women-and-girls-bear-brunt-of-water-and-sanitation-crisis---new-unicef-who-report\">women are disproportionately impacted<\/a>\u2014starting with bearing the burden of finding and distributing drinkable water to their families. In seven out of 10 households where water is collected off premises, women and girls are responsible for the collection. Sarah Evans, founder of nonprofit <a href=\"https:\/\/wellawareworld.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/wellawareworld.org\/about\/\">Well Aware<\/a> that works on water projects in East Africa, notes that in many areas where she works, women have to walk about three and a half miles daily to collect water from a hand pump. \u201cThat&#8217;s a good chunk of time, especially carrying water for half of it. It could be more than half your day,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>While spending one\u2019s day waiting for water and carrying it home is objectively inconvenient, many are unaware that water wells are also a \u201ctragically common place for violence against women,\u201d says Evans. The long walking distances and queues put women <a href=\"https:\/\/wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1002\/wat2.1619\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1002\/wat2.1619\">at risk of sexual violence<\/a> and can exacerbate problems at home. When one of Well Aware\u2019s employees was a young girl, \u201cher father would abuse her when she came home too late with the water needed for their evening meal,\u201d says Evans.<\/p>\n<p>But even when women aren\u2019t responsible for the act of collecting water from afar, they still <a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacific.unwomen.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-11\/UN_WOMEN_RMI.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/asiapacific.unwomen.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-11\/UN_WOMEN_RMI.pdf\">bear the brunt of household responsibilities<\/a>, which includes purifying the water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. Before receiving their filters, Marshallese residents like Carrley Lang (who grew up on the outer island of Wotje Atoll), had to \u201cboil a bunch [of water] and then put it in the cooler every day,\u201d she says. When she and other women tasked with water purification ran out of butane (which they used to boil water and also to cook), they needed to make a trip to Majuro, the main island, or wait for a shipment. Some people live on islands so remote that they only receive supplies once a year, says Angeline Heine-Reimers, president of KIO.<\/p>\n<p>The Republic of the Marshall Islands is also a matrilineal society, meaning land and property are passed down through women. On their land holdings, women have respect and power to make decisions for their household. But water scarcity on those islands has caused residents to migrate to Majuro. \u201cWhen you move away from your land\u2014like a lot of the women from the outer islands\u2014they come here, but their land holding is out there,\u201d says Marie Maddison, an advisor for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wutmi.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wutmi.com\/\">Women United Together Marshall Islands<\/a> (WUTMI). \u201cSo here, whoever is earning the income for the family has the power. Away from their power base, [the displaced women] have issues at home.\u201d Forty-eight percent of women in the RMI have experienced physical violence by a partner, and 27 percent have experienced an act of economic abuse, like being denied access to money for household needs, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacific.unfpa.org\/sites\/default\/files\/resource-pdf\/Marshall%20Islands%20VAW%20Fact%20Sheet%20240315_0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/asiapacific.unfpa.org\/sites\/default\/files\/resource-pdf\/Marshall%20Islands%20VAW%20Fact%20Sheet%20240315_0.pdf\">RMI Family Health and Safety Study<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lack of access to clean water also <a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2010\/04\/334412\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2010\/04\/334412\">affects school attendance rates,<\/a> as illness rates soar. And it doesn\u2019t just cause unpleasant symptoms like diarrhea. \u201cOnce you ingest water that has some kind of biological contaminant in it, it&#8217;s going to mess with your intestines,\u201d says Evans. \u201cSo even if you are eating okay, but your body isn&#8217;t taking in those nutrients, it&#8217;s not going to matter.\u201d According to UNICEF, undernutrition in early years leads to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/eap\/media\/1181\/file\/Nutrition-WASH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/eap\/media\/1181\/file\/Nutrition-WASH\">stunted growth and child deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But even when children are healthy enough to be in the classroom, if schools don\u2019t have clean water, women and girls will stay home during menstruation due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/topic\/water\/brief\/menstrual-health-and-hygiene\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/topic\/water\/brief\/menstrual-health-and-hygiene\">unhygienic sanitary facilities and lack of privacy<\/a>. This forces girls to miss four or more days a month, which can easily make them fall behind. After missing so much school, many inevitably drop out. \u201cIt&#8217;s almost an accepted occurrence in many places,\u201d says Evans.<\/p>\n<p>After spending over a decade in areas with water crises, Evans has witnessed the resilience and motivation of women in many communities. I also witnessed this on RongRong in the Marshall Islands, when dozens of women and girls gathered around to learn how to purify their drinking water. \u201cObviously they have the drive\u2014just without the resources, they can&#8217;t do anything with it,\u201d Evans says.<\/p>\n<h2>The women working on solutions<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cWater is Life.\u201d That\u2019s the translation of KIO\u2019s Dren en Mour project, a five-year project to bring drinking water to all residents in the RMI that ended in July 2023. The KIO founders and their all-women team distributed Sawyer\u2019s five-gallon buckets and filtration systems across dozens of islands across the entire RMI. Residents can now fill one of the buckets with their dirty drinking water (either groundwater, rainwater, or surface water) and use gravity to feed it through a hose to the filter, which removes harmful pathogens like bacteria, protozoa, and microplastics. When properly maintained, these filters can last over 10 years and are simple and affordable to replace.<\/p>\n<p>Already, residents from islands that were among the first to receive water filters, like the outer island Mejatto, have seen a drastic improvement in disease rates. Before the filters, over 54 percent of adults reported having diarrhea over a two-week period, according to a progress report from KIO. Afterward, no one had symptoms anymore.<\/p>\n<p>RMI residents also have more time now that they use the filters. \u201cLife is much better here\u2014more time for others, more time to work,\u201d says Lang, who used to boil her water. And families are saving money, too. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sawyer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.sawyer.com\/\">Sawyer<\/a>, the company that provided the filters for Dren en Mour, works on projects in other countries, including Fiji. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/assets-global.website-files.com\/61549f9352f3558157a226ea\/61549f9352f35571f6a2333f_Fiji-handout-2018-web.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/assets-global.website-files.com\/61549f9352f3558157a226ea\/61549f9352f35571f6a2333f_Fiji-handout-2018-web.pdf\">data collected by Sawyer,<\/a>, Fiji families have experienced \u201can average of $22.46 USD per month savings on medical costs, $10.50 per month savings on purchased water, and had an increase of 1.13 days of adult work days added to their monthly budgets,\u201d since the distribution of the water filters.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s really our strategy: to empower the woman and then she will empower her family.&#8221; \u2014Monique Levy-Strauss, founder, Kora In Okrane (KIO)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWater really is the beginning of any kind of development, much less prosperity in these regions,\u201d says Evans. \u201cIt&#8217;s a catalyst for everything; without it, nothing else is possible.\u201d When communities get access to clean water, the effects begin to ripple outward to increase the overall quality of life. \u201cOnce you have the water system implemented, you go back a year later and it looks like a different place,\u201d says Evans. The children look healthier and better nourished because water-borne disease rates have fallen.<\/p>\n<p>School attendance increases, too, especially for women. Girls with access to clean water are able to \u201ccontinue their education during those four days [of menstruation],\u201d says Gautam, and increase \u201ctheir overall learning by ensuring they are attending school full time.\u201d After working in this field for over a decade, Evans has seen dramatic changes in the communities where they installed water systems: \u201cThere are young girls who are planning on going to college and have these big professional dreams who probably would not have even gone into secondary school had they not had water,\u201d she explains. \u201cFor each additional year that a girl is in school, her <a href=\"https:\/\/documents1.worldbank.org\/curated\/en\/830831468147839247\/pdf\/WPS7020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/documents1.worldbank.org\/curated\/en\/830831468147839247\/pdf\/WPS7020.pdf\">future income goes up by 12 percent.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the effects don\u2019t stop there: Access to clean water \u201cfrees up women\u2019s time to engage in other economic activities,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tunhumafaraiangela\/?originalSubdomain=ke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tunhumafaraiangela\/?originalSubdomain=ke\">Farai Tunhuma<\/a>, senior advisor for UNICEF\u2019s WASH program. Recently, Well Aware worked on a project in northern Kenya where miles of arid land sat unused. \u201cAfter we went back a few years later, the women had already carved out hectares of land and were cultivating it and growing fruits and vegetables,\u201d says Evans. These women provide this food for their families and local schools, but they also now sell it in the markets to create their own income. \u201cHaving the source of water there opened up a whole new life for these women because they weren&#8217;t having to walk and get water. They weren&#8217;t having to take care of kids who were sick all the time,\u201d says Evans.<\/p>\n<p>When women don\u2019t have to walk long distances, they\u2019re safer, too. According to Tunhuma, gender-based violence was reduced when women had access to water in their homes after UNICEF established a clean water project in Zimbabwe. \u201cIf we do not have to keep women standing around waiting in lines late in the day or getting home late at night just because they don&#8217;t have water, that takes all of that out of the equation and gives women that much more power,\u201d says Evans.<\/p>\n<p>Because women are disproportionately affected, it feels especially apt that women are also the change makers on the front lines of the water crisis. As I reported this story, nearly every person I talked to was a woman\u2014at nonprofits and government agencies, and the involved locals, too. In fact, Monique Levy-Strauss, the founder of KIO, says the nonprofit\u2019s entire mission is to uplift women: \u201cThe women are key: If you help the women, you help the kids, you help the men. So that&#8217;s really our strategy: to empower the woman and then she will empower her family.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"block-thin post-citations mt-[40px] mb-[30px]\" data-module-init=\"main-2020\/post-citations\" data-module-immediate=\"true\">\n<hr class=\"!border-seafoam-dark mb-[24px]\"\/>\n<div class=\"post-citations-content flex flex-col gap-[24px]\">\n<p>Well+Good articles reference scientific, reliable, recent, robust studies to back up the information we share. You can trust us along your wellness journey.<\/p>\n<div>\n<ol class=\"!ml-[18px] !mt-0\">\n<li>\n              Barkey, B., and Ryan T. Bailey. \u201cEstimating the Impact of Drought on Groundwater Resources of the Marshall Islands\u201d <em>Water (<\/em>2017): 9, no. 1: 41. doi:10.3390\/w9010041            <\/li>\n<li>\n              Ruckart, Perri Zeitz et al. \u201cThe Flint Water Crisis: A Coordinated Public Health Emergency Response and Recovery Initiative.\u201d <em>Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP<\/em> vol. 25 Suppl 1, Lead Poisoning Prevention,Suppl 1 LEAD POISONING PREVENTION (2019): S84-S90. doi:10.1097\/PHH.0000000000000871            <\/li>\n<li>\n              Bisung, E., &amp; Elliott, S. J. Psychosocial impacts of the lack of access to water and sanitation in low-and middle-income countries: A scoping review. <em>Journal of Water and Health<\/em>\u00a0(2017): 15(1), 17\u201330. doi:10.2166\/wh.2016.158            <\/li>\n<li>\n              Tallman, P. S. et. al. Water insecurity and gender-based violence: A global review of the evidence. <em>WIREs Water<\/em>\u00a0(2023): 10(1), e1619. doi:10.1002\/wat2.1619            <\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<hr class=\"!border-seafoam-dark mt-[24px]\"\/>\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and Guam, lies the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Made up of hundreds of tiny islands and about 30 atolls (ring-shaped islands with lagoons in the center), the country is more ocean than it is land. But despite being surrounded on all sides &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}