A United Nations survey carried out in 177 countries has revealed that women collecting water spend an estimated 40 billion hours. The period is equivalent to a year's labour for the entire workforce in France.
The world survey conducted in 177 countries (both developed and developing) specifically shows that in Mozambique, rural Senegal and Eastern Uganda, women spend 15 to 17 hours a week collecting water.
The UNDP 2006 Human Development Report states that the time wasted on collecting water from distant points has incapacitated women's efforts to engage in more relevant activities including child care and productive work.
As an implication, "the time spent on collecting water reinforces time-poverty, disempowers women and lowers income." The survey further suggests that collecting water exacerbates gender inequality and has derailed women from income generating activities in addition to undermining human dignity.
"Social and cultural norms influence the household division of labour. In developing countries, looking after children, caring for the sick and elderly, preparing food and collecting water and firewood are tasks dominated by women. Norms in this case translate into unequal working hours between men and women: time surveys in Benin, Madagascar, Mauritius and South Africa point to differences ranging from five to seven hours," the report says.
"Time-poverty also contributes to income poverty. It reduces the time available for participation in income generation, limits the scope for women to take advantage of market opportunities and impedes their ability to expand capabilities and skills, reducing future economic returns," the survey adjoined.
About 1.1 billion people in the developing world do not have access to minimal amount of clean water. Coverage is lowest are lowest in Sub-Saharan African. Although most governments in developing countries have strategised to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, the report says; "Even if the targets are achieved, there will still be more than 800million people without clean water," implying that women would still be burdened with walking long distances to collect water.
"It is not uncommon for women to walk more than 10 kilometres during the dry season. Research in eastern Uganda found households spending on average 660 hours a year collecting water. This represents two full months of labour with the attendant opportunity costs for education, income generation and female leisure time," the report, released last week, partly reads. In India, according to research done by Self Employed Women's Association, it is estimated that reducing time spent on water collection to one hour a day would enable women to earn an additional US$100 a year. "But it was not only the loss of income that was important. Women also emphasized the importance of income generation to their independence."
As developing countries await the 2015 review of their Millennium Development Goals, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration will launch the Jupiter Icy Moons Project to investigate the composition of vast saltwater lakes beneath the ice surfaces of Jupiter's moons and determine whether conditions for life exist. The irony of humanity however is in spending billons of dollars in exploring the potential for life on other planets while we allow the destruction of life and human capabilities on planet Earth.
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