By Obiabin Onukwugha
As the global community marks the 2026 World Water Day on Sunday 22 March 2026, a non-governmental organization, Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI has urged the Federal and state governments to adopt gender-conscious approaches when formulating policies to address the nation’s water crisis.
RDI in a statement issued at the weekend, stated that this year’s theme “Water and Gender,” which has as campaign slogan “Where water flows, equality grows,” speaks directly to the challenges of women and the girl child in Nigeria and most countries of the Global South, especially the physical and mental exhaustion they experience in sourcing water.
The global commemorations led by the UN Women and UNICEF focuses on the critical link between water access and gender equality, highlighting that water inequality disproportionately affects women and girls.
“The situation in most communities across Nigeria readily comes to mind. The daily drudgery women and the girl child contend with due to the dry taps in their communities is real.
“Disturbingly the situation we describe is not only in the rural communities; In cities like Lagos and Abuja it is the same. That is why the theme of this year’s commemoration is a wake-up call to the government at all levels to be gender conscious in addressing the avoidable water challenges in the country,” the statement read in part.
The body noted that women and the girl child are disproportionately affected when access to water is a challenge because they are the ones who go the distance often facing risks in search of water. In many cases the girl child ends up not going to school to satisfy the home.
“Yet there’s another often-overlooked situation: When there’s no water, the physical hygiene of women also takes a hit, exposing them to disease and illness. So, the current systems are a lose-lose for women”.
“We are in total alignment with the recommendation of the UN that women and girls are placed at the center of water solutions if Nigeria is serious in achieving two key Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).
“This year’s commemoration should not be mere sloganeering. The government must be deliberate in adopting gender-responsive strategies and they must cover the whole gamut from water management, water governance, and in the development and citing of water infrastructure”, the statement added.