Glass ceilings aside, millions of women are prohibited from accomplishing little more than survival. Not because of a lack of ambition, or ability, but because of a lack of safe water and adequate sanitation. Millions of women and children in the developing world spend untold hours daily, collecting water from distant, often polluted sources, then return to their villages carrying their filled 40 pound jerry cans on their backs.
* Women and children spend 125 million hours each day collecting water.
* Women and girls living without a toilet spend 266 million hours each day finding a place to go.
* Women and children bear the primary responsibility for water collection.
* Women and girls often spend up to 6 hours each day collecting water.
* In Africa and Asia, women and children walk an average of 3.7 miles a day just to collect water.
* Reductions in time spent collecting water have been found to increase school attendance.
* Every 90 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.
* 160 million children suffer from stunting and chronic malnutrition linked to water and sanitation.
* Globally, 1/3 of all schools lack access to safe water and sanitation.
* Diarrhea is the 3rd leading cause of child death, a majority of which are water-related.
* Involving women can make water projects 6 to 7 times more effective.
Source: Water.org
