According to the U.N. Development Programme, women in sub-Saharan Africa collectively spend an average of 200 million hours per day and 40 billion hours per year collecting water. Although women perform most water-related tasks, their participation in decision-making processes on water and food management remains very low. Lakshmi Puri, deputy executive director of U.N. Women, discusses projects in sub-Saharan Africa and other areas aimed at reducing women’s water-carrying burdens and expanding their participation in policy making.
