From Commodity To Common Good: A Feminist Agenda To Tackle The World?s Water Crisis
UN Women
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Abstract: This report by UN Women advances a feminist and rights-of-Nature approach to water governance, spotlighting the intersection of gender inequality and the global water crisis. It argues that commodifying water has exacerbated climate change impacts, overconsumption, pollution, and mismanagement. Women and girls?especially those from marginalized communities?bear the brunt of water insecurity, yet their ecological knowledge and leadership remain under-recognized. The document offers a holistic paradigm recognizing water as a sacred common good, and calls for gender-responsive policy, investment, and legal reforms rooted in human rights. It includes analysis of SDG 6, legal precedents for ecological rights, and pathways for sustainable water governance.