Water Scarcity and Education
Women and children spend 125 million hours each day collecting water, time otherwise better spent on education and other productive activities to boost their socioeconomic standing.
443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases.
Water availability in households is an important factor in the enrollment, attendance and drop-out rates of children. School enrollment rates increase by up to 15% in communities who gained more reliable access to clean water.
The impact of women reclaiming time shouldn’t be underestimated - women reinvest up to 90% of their income back into their families, improving their family’s health and nutrition and ensuring that their children get a good education
A third of all schools lack access to safe water.
In some countries in Africa and Asia as few as 10% of schools have adequate and separate improved sanitation facilities, while student-to-latrine ratios can be as high as 150:1.
Teachers are hesitant to re-locate to communities without a reliable and safe source of water, this has a profound negative impact on the quality of education that marginalized low-income and poverty-stricken communities have access to.
263 million children and adolescents are not enrolled in a school worldwide, 25 million will never start.
One-third (21.1 million) of the 93.3 million children and adolescents of Sub-Saharan Africa live in conflict areas.