Women from across Asia and the Pacific work hard to collect water for their families every day. Yet women lack representation at the management level in the water sector. There is evidence, though, that water projects designed and run with the full participation of women are more likely to succeed in the long term.
200 million - Number of hours women spend each day collecting water for their families worldwide.
10 million - Number of person- years women and girls spend carrying water from distant sources every year.
Source: Gender and Water in Central Asia
150 million - Number of work days per year spent by women fetching water in India, equivalent to a national loss of income of 10 billion Rupees, or about $160 million at current exchange rates.
Source: Gender and Water in Central Asia
76% - Percentage of households from 45 developing countries surveyed that show women and children bearing the primary responsibility of water collection.
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation. Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water, 2010 Update.
Less than 6% - percentage of women in Asia who are serving on boards of companies in 2011, in contrast to 15% in the US and 17% in Europe.
Source: Mckinsey. Women Matter 2013. Gender diversity in top management: Moving corporate culture, moving boundaries.
As much as 30% - Difference in performance of companies with greater gender diversity in their leadership teams compared with those who have less.
Source: Catalyst: Linking Performance and Gender Balance on the Board. Women in senior management:setting the stage for growth
73% - higher return on sales of Fortune 500 companies with three or more women on the board over those with fewer.
Source: Catalyst: Linking Performance and Gender Balance on the Board. Women in senior management:setting the stage for growth
Around 35% - pre-tax income compounded annual growth rate of 9 Indian companies run by women managers, outperforming the 30 leading listed firms on the Bombay Stock Exchange, in year-on-year growth rates for the last five years through 2008.
Source: The Economic Times. 8 March 2009. Women promoters beat big daddies
