Spotlight on SDG 6: From commodity to common good: A feminist agenda to tackle the world’s water crisis

This paper aims to review the state of gender equality in Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) and showcases how a gender perspective can inform and strengthen the discourse around SDG 6 acceleration. The paper emphasizes the need for a feminist approach to addressing the global water crisis, one that recognizes the important role women play in their communities as the main collectors, protectors, and managers of water.

The latest data and projections on the gender and water nexus presented in the paper reveal that the human rights to water and to sanitation are far from realized for many women and girls globally. The paper calls for women’s equal representation in leadership and decision-making and draws a clear connection between social justice, ecological rights, and women’s rights.

The case studies and examples throughout the paper reveal the essential role women have played in the global movement to transform indigenous values and local ecological knowledge into enforceable ecological rights. Pressing data gaps and measurement challenges, along with evidence-based, action-oriented policy recommendations, are also captured and discussed in the paper.

This paper is part of the “Spotlight on the SDGs” series.