World Water Day 2026 will focus on gender equality

‘Where water flows equality grows’. That is the slogan of World Water Day 2026. This year, all events organised on 22 March will concentrate on the role of water and sanitation in gender equality. Lack of safely managed water and sanitation is an equality issue. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by poor water, sanitation and hygiene services and facilities.

The global water and sanitation crisis affects everyone, but not equally. Women and girls are more vulnerable to abuse, attack and ill-health when they have no access to drinking water and safe sanitation facilities. This affects their ability to study, work and fully participate in society. To find adequate solutions women and girls must play a central role in designing and implementing services that respond to their specific needs.

Personal safety

For women and girls, sanitation is about personal safety. Having to go to the toilet outside or sharing facilities with men and boys puts women and girls at increased risk of abuse and assault. Women and girls have specific hygiene needs. A clean, functional, lockable, gender-segregated space is needed, with access to sanitary products and disposal systems, for women and girls to manage menstrual hygiene and pregnancy.

Invest in women’s leadership

UN Water states that 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. “Gender-responsive Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is critical for the 2030 Agenda. Embedding gender equity into policy at all levels will be crucial to achieving water and sanitation for all, which in turn will help advance many other parts of the SDG agenda, particularly poverty reduction, health, education, and work.”

Background World Water Day

World Water Day is organised every year on the 22nd of March by UN Water. During World Water Day many events are taking place globally to create awareness around a water related theme. Last year, the theme was ‘glacier preservation’ to highlight that water governance is key for peace. More information about this year’s theme is available via the website of UN-Water. The United Nations World Water Development Report is launched on World Water Day itself, focusing on the same theme.