WASH sector urged to boost women’s participation in leadership  

Stakeholders in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector have been urged to ensure greater inclusion of women in leadership and decision-making roles.

The Country Director of Self Help Africa (SHA) Nigeria, Joy Aderele, made the call in a statement to mark Women’s Month, highlighting the persistent gender gap in a sector where women, despite being the primary managers of household water and sanitation, remain significantly underrepresented in leadership and technical positions.

Citing a 2021 UN-Water report, Aderele noted that women constitute less than 20% of employees in the global water sector, with even fewer holding engineering and management roles.

In Nigeria, she said that while women make up nearly half of the population, their participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) remains low, further limiting their influence in WASH-related policymaking.

“The disparity is particularly glaring in decision-making, where men dominate policy formulation, despite women being the primary users of WASH services,” she said.

Aderele identified political, economic, and cultural barriers as key obstacles to women’s inclusion in WASH leadership.

She pointed to weak implementation of gender-mainstreaming policies, economic constraints, wage gaps, and limited funding opportunities that discourage women from pursuing STEM education or the technical training necessary for leadership roles.

According to her, cultural biases reinforce the notion that engineering and policymaking in WASH are male-dominated fields. Safety concerns and mobility restrictions further deter women from taking up field-based roles.

She stressed that closing the gender gap is not just about fairness but also about improving the sector’s effectiveness, stressing that research has shown that water projects led by women are six to seven times more effective than those without female leadership.

A more inclusive sector, she argued, would lead to better service delivery, more sustainable solutions, and stronger community engagement.

To address the imbalance, Aderele urged the government and stakeholders to take concrete steps beyond rhetoric. These include setting clear targets for female representation, allocating dedicated funding for women-led WASH initiatives, and investing in gender-responsive financial mechanisms such as scholarships and grants.

She also called for workplace policies that foster a safe and inclusive environment for women, alongside advocacy efforts to challenge cultural norms that discourage female participation.

SHA, through its £5 million WASH Systems for Health (WS4H) programme, funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), is actively working to strengthen women’s leadership in community WASH governance.

In Cross River State, gender inclusion is being prioritised in the review of the Water Supply Policy, while in both Cross River and Kano, governance structures are being reformed to ensure greater female participation in decision-making bodies.

As Women’s Month serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for gender equality, Aderele called for decisive action to dismantle systemic barriers. “Achieving gender parity in WASH is not just a women’s issue—it’s a collective responsibility,” she said.

“Only through deliberate and sustained efforts can we build a more equitable and sustainable future for all.”