Please note that this page is from our archives. There may be more up-to-date content about this topic on our website. Use our search engine to find out.
Access to water is essential for any poverty reduction strategy and in order to
achieve gender equality. On the occasion of Internationa
Women and girls are by far the most affected by the
lack of access to water, a fundamental human right. In South Africa,
collectively, women and girls spend 40 millions hours per year fetching
water. This is time they do not spend on other activities, such as
school and paid work.
Hans Engelberts, General Secretary of Public Services International (PSI) stated
l Women’s Day, public sector
unions around the world are calling on governments to reaffirm their
commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and to reduce by half
the number of people without access to water by the year 2015.“ Water privatisation has not brought quality water services to people. Governments must accept
their responsibility to provide safe, affordable and sufficient access
to water. The social, economic and environmental costs of failing to
provide water and sanitation are far greater than the resources needed to provide for these fundamental needs.”
From 8 March to 22 March, World Water Day, women’s committees of PSI
In the Caribbean, the Antigua and Barbuda Public
Services Association will hold workplace discussions on the impact of
water privatisation on women and communities.
In Thailand, PSI affiliates, together with other NGOs
are organising a rally to call on the government to keep water in
public hands and to invest in water development. In
The labour delegation at the 2007 session of the UN
Commission on the Status of Women, which this year focuses on the girl
child, has used the opportunity to raise the issue of quality public
services, including access to health, education and water. At a panel
event organised jointly by the ITUC, Education International and PSI,
Helen Maunga, Vice Chair of
affiliates
are organising a range of activities to highlight the fundamental right
to water, including a postcard writing campaign to call on governments
to live up to their commitments.Lebanon, the women’s committee of the Water Union of Beirut and Mount Lebanon are organising a lunchtime forum. Trade unions in Indonesia are also mobilising to demand that water remain in public hands.the PSI World Women’s Committee highlighted the importance of quality public services in achieving gender equality and eliminating discrimination against women and the girl child:
“When countries fail to invest in education, health,
water, social, municipal and other public services, it is women and the
girl child who suffer most
PSI has produced a women and water campaign package,
including an information leaflet, a poster, a sticker, and a postcard.
Additional materials, including audio materials, are available on the
PSI website:
”, she told the audience. http://www.world-psi.org/ or contact: equality [at] worldpsi.org or +33(0)450409141 for more information..