World Water Day: Water Privatisation a Threat to Women and Girls, OWORAC Warns African Governments
The Our Water, Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC) joins communities across the globe in commemorating World Water Day, in recognition of the centrality of this life-affirming resource to our lives and the tremendous strides needed to fulfil and protect the human right to water for all people. This year’s theme, “Water and Gender,” underscores the critical importance of addressing the gender inequality inherent in households facing acute water crises.
OWORAC, a group of civil society organisations, local communities, and trade unionists from across Africa, holds firm that all forms of water privatisation and corporate control of water must be rejected as they are fundamentally at odds with the realisation of both water and gender justice, particularly on the African continent.
“As the world comes together to mark World Water Day, we must remain clear-eyed about two of the pillars underpinning the global water crisis: Gender inequality and corporate greed. Across Africa, women and girls pay the highest price when governments relinquish public water systems to private interests,” said Fatou Diouf of the Senegalese Water Justice Network, on behalf of OWORAC. “Examples across the world show that privateers’ loyalty is to their profits. Thus, privatisation not only turns a basic human right into a profit-making commodity, but also deepens existing injustices, hence the call for African peoples to insist on publicly financed and democratically governed water systems.”
Right now, billions of people lack access to safe water. As is the case with many societal crises, the water crisis is not felt evenly across the globe or even within communities. The fact remains that women and girls face an alarmingly disproportionate impact when safe water is not readily available.
Every single day, women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa spend 200 million hours collecting water. This tremendous figure is not just a statistic, it depicts a loss because each hour represents a person who could have otherwise spent the time obtaining an education, earning a salary, or simply remaining safely in their community. As Cecilia Sharp, UNICEF Director of WASH and CEED, said, “Every step a girl takes to collect water is a step away from learning, playing, and safety.”
OWORAC is also concerned by reports that the Government of Zimbabwe is considering scrapping the Zimbabwe Gender Commission. At a time when the global community is recognising the deep connections between water access and gender equality, dismantling one of the few national institutions mandated to respond to women’s issues would represent a troubling step backward. The Commission has been one of the few institutional spaces amplifying women’s concerns and advocating for access to basic services, including water, and weakening such a body risks further marginalising women in policy decisions that directly affect their livelihoods and wellbeing. This conversation is also emerging at a moment when Zimbabwe has stated its intention to pursue water privatisation schemes across the country, raising serious concerns about who will defend the interests of women and vulnerable communities as critical public services are opened to corporate control.
Despite the progress needed to bridge the water gap and make our societies more equitable, private water corporations and the institutions that do their bidding are pushing the false solution of privatisation and decision-makers across the continent appear tunnel-visioned in their pursuit of this dangerous distraction. From unaffordable water bills to labor abuses to increasingly unaccountable water governance, there is overwhelming – and growing – evidence of the harms that water privatisation brings to community members, workers, and states themselves. It is evident that privatisation schemes, including so-called “public-private partnerships” are set to exacerbate existing challenges, not fix them.
It is, therefore, shameful that the United Nations welcomes the private water industry’s international lobby group AquaFed – which represents private water giants Veolia and Suez – as a World Water Day 2026 Task Force Member. Our governments and international institutions should be holding these water profiteers accountable for their abuses, not embracing them with open arms.
Therefore, OWORAC seizes this occasion of World Water Day to reiterate its demands that African governments and peoples reject water privatisation and so-called ‘public-private partnerships’ as false solutions to the very real challenges the continent faces. Governments should channel public funds into public service, not incentives that attract privatisers. Furthermore, they must end secretive contracts and policies which shut people out of decisions that impact their lives and livelihoods. Ensuring that women do not continue to bear the brunt of water crises and abuses under private water schemes and are, instead, central to public water governance is paramount. And, essential to all of these aims, they must ensure meaningful public participation from communities, civil society, and workers in the decisions that impact the people’s fundamental human right to water.
SIGNED
1. Senegalese Water Justice Network (Senegal)
2. Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (Nigeria)
3. Amaka Nweke Foundation (Nigeria)
4. Water Citizens Network / Revenue Mobilisation Africa (Ghana)
5. Disability Not a Barrier Initiative (Nigeria)
6. Cheriehomes Global Initiatives(Northeast Nigeria)
7. Christian Initiative For Nation Building (Nigeria)
8. Green Scenery (Sierra Leone)
9. Voices for Water (Zimbabwe)
10. Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya (Kenya)
11. Corporate Accountability (International)
