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STORY: UN / WORLD WATER DAY
TRT: 02:49
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 19 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Med shot, exterior, flags, United Nations
19 MARCH 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, ECOSOC Chamber
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President, 80th Session of the General Assembly, United Nations:
“In a world where water is abundant – and where technology has enabled extraordinary feats of engineering – no one should be struggling to find water to drink or have to live without adequate sanitation. Yet for billions of people, that remains the daily reality.”
4. Wide shot, ECOSOC Chamber
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President, 80th Session of the General Assembly, United Nations:
“3.4 billion people – lacked access to safely managed sanitation. Predictably, those already furthest behind bear the greatest burden. In least developed countries, fewer than one in five people have access to safely managed drinking water or sanitation. And the gender disparity is even more stark.”
6. Wide shot, ECOSOC Chamber
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Annalena Baerbock, President, 80th Session of the General Assembly, United Nations:
“A quarter of all women and girls worldwide – 1.1 billion – lack access to safely managed drinking water. Every day, women and girls collectively spend 250 million hours fetching water for their families – more than three times that spent by men and boys. In seven out of ten households where water is not available on-site, it is again women and girls, many barely school-aged, who are sent to collect it, so they cannot attend school.”
8. Wide shot, ECOSOC Chamber
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations:
“Advancing gender equality in water management is not only a matter of justice and the human rights: it is also essential for effective and sustainable water solutions. Inclusive governance, equitable participation and the gender responsible policies strengthen resilience and improve the outcomes for communities everywhere.”
10. Wide shot, ECOSOC Chamber
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations:
“As we mark the World Water Day, we are also reminded of the growing pressures of the freshwater systems linked to climate change, including the rapid loss of the glaciers that regulate the water availability for hundreds of the millions of the people.”
12. Wide shot, ECOSOC Chamber
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Catherine M. Russell Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF):
“Yet, despite being on the front lines as caregivers, as health workers and as community leaders, women and girls are often absent from the rooms where decisions about water are made. This is not only unjust: it is holding back progress, and now is the time for change.”
14. Wide shot, ECOSOC Chamber
UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua said, “Advancing gender equality in water management is not only a matter of justice and the human rights: it is also essential for effective and sustainable water solutions.
Today (19 Mar) World Water Day was commemorated in the ECOSOC Chamber at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, co-organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), UN-Water and the Permanent Mission of Tajikistan.
World Water Day 2026 places gender equality at the center of water action.
Structural inequalities shape access to water, the burden of water scarcity and unequal participation in decision-making.
Without addressing these disparities, water investments without a gender lens risk reinforcing exclusion.
Gender-responsive policies, leadership and financing are essential to ensure equitable, efficient and sustainable outcomes.
The 2026 theme, Water and Gender Equality, underscores the link between equitable access to water and sustainable development.
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by inadequate services yet remain underrepresented in governance.
Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the General Assembly, said, “In a world where water is abundant – and where technology has enabled extraordinary feats of engineering – no one should be struggling to find water to drink or have to live without adequate sanitation. Yet for billions of people, that remains the daily reality.”
She highlighted, “3.4 billion people – lacked access to safely managed sanitation. Predictably, those already furthest behind bear the greatest burden. In least developed countries, fewer than one in five people have access to safely managed drinking water or sanitation. And the gender disparity is even more stark.”
She stressed, “A quarter of all women and girls worldwide – 1.1 billion – lack access to safely managed drinking water. Every day, women and girls collectively spend 250 million hours fetching water for their families – more than three times that spent by men and boys. In seven out of ten households where water is not available on-site, it is again women and girls, many barely school-aged, who are sent to collect it, so they cannot attend school.”
Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said, “Inclusive governance, equitable participation and the gender responsible policies strengthen resilience and improve the outcomes for communities everywhere.”
He also said, “As we mark the World Water Day, we are also reminded of the growing pressures of the freshwater systems linked to climate change, including the rapid loss of the glaciers that regulate the water availability for hundreds of the millions of the people.”
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, said, “Despite being on the front lines as caregivers, as health workers and as community leaders, women and girls are often absent from the rooms where decisions about water are made. This is not only unjust: it is holding back progress, and now is the time for change.”
