She Walks Five Kilometres for Water. The World Has Five Years to Change That

Accessing water at a protected well in Wajir (📷IIED, 2019)

At first light in Wajir County, 14-year-old Fatimah lifts a yellow jerry can onto her head and begins the long walk—five kilometres to a shrinking water point. By the time she returns, school has already started.

Now consider this: in 2025, only about 30% of people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to safely managed drinking water (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2025). The rest—like Fatimah—are still walking.

This is the reality confronting the world in the final five years of the 2030 Agenda.

Now imagine a different morning.

Fatimah wakes to the steady hum of a solar-powered pump. A tap stands just steps from her home. Water flows—clean, reliable, close. She fills her container in minutes and runs to class. Her mother joins a local water committee that manages tariffs and repairs. Time is reclaimed. Dignity is restored. Opportunity begins.

This is what SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation for all) looks like when it works.

But globally, progress is off-track. Around 2.2 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water, 3.4 billion lack safely managed sanitation, and 1.7 billion lack basic hygiene services (WHO & UNICEF, 2025). Africa carries a disproportionate share of this burden, with rural communities and women most affected (UNICEF, 2025).

That is why the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Senegal and convened in the UAE from 2–4 December 2026, is a pivotal moment. It is not another convening—it is a test of whether the world can translate urgency into action (UN DESA, 2024; UN-Water, 2025).

So what will it take to change Fatimah’s story—and millions like hers?

1. Investment that reaches the last mile
Despite progress since 2000, current rates are insufficient to meet SDG 6 targets by 2030 (UN-Water, 2025). Financing must shift toward decentralised, climate-resilient solutions—solar boreholes, small piped systems, and safe sanitation services—supported by blended finance that connects global capital to local delivery.

2. Innovation that works for people
Technology is already transforming access: remote monitoring of water systems, mobile payments, and low-cost treatment solutions are improving reliability and sustainability (World Bank, 2024). But innovation succeeds only when it is co-designed with communities and grounded in local realities.

3. Political will that delivers systems, not promises
Water security depends on governance. Yet progress remains uneven, especially in fragile and climate-vulnerable regions (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2025). Governments must prioritise operations and maintenance, strengthen regulation, and protect water ecosystems.

4. Solidarity that moves beyond slogans
SDG 6 will not be achieved in isolation. It demands global solidarity—fair financing, technology transfer, and inclusive governance that centres women and youth. The 2026 Conference must catalyse this shift from fragmented efforts to collective action.

Fatimah’s story is still being written.

The next five years will decide whether she keeps walking for water—or turns on a tap and steps into her future.

If the world chooses urgency, investment, and solidarity, then by 2030, we will not just measure progress—we will see it, in villages and cities across Africa, where water flows, and opportunity follows.

References

• WHO & UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP). (2025). Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000–2024: Special focus on inequalities.
• UN-Water. (2025). SDG 6 Progress Update 2025
• UNICEF. (2025). Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Global Status Update.
• UN DESA. (2024). Preparatory process for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference.
• World Bank. (2024). Water Global Practice: Innovation and Financing for WASH.

She Feeds Africa—Why Is She Still Shut Out? (IYWF 2026)

 

Women are the backbone of Africa’s food systems (📷JEEP)

At sunrise in northern Uganda, Amina scans her maize field—knowing exactly what to do, but lacking what she needs to do it. In Senegal, Mariama tends her rice plot. In Ethiopia, Almaz studies the sky, reading the rains like a clock. Different countries. Same reality.

They are the backbone of Africa’s food systems—yet still farming with one hand tied behind their backs.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, women make up nearly 50% of the agricultural labour force, and up to 60% in some countries (FAO, 2023). Yet only about 15% of landholders are women, and they receive just 2–5% of extension services (FAO, 2023; World Bank, 2024). The result is stark: women farmers produce 13–25% less than men, not due to their ability, but rather due to unequal access to resources (World Bank, 2024).

This is the reality the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026) must confront.

For Amina—and millions like her—the first barrier is finance. Without land titles or formal records, women are often invisible to banks. Yet when women access credit, they invest directly in productivity and the well-being of their households. Closing the gender gap in agriculture could reduce the number of hungry people globally by up to 150 million (FAO, 2023). For Amina, that gap is the difference between planting on time—or not at all.

Next is technology—and the gap is widening. Across Africa, women are 29% less likely to use mobile internet than men, leaving over 200 million women offline (GSMA, 2023). That’s not just a connectivity issue—it’s a climate risk. Without access to timely weather forecasts or advisory services, women absorb more shocks. Yet when equipped, they are more likely to adopt climate-smart practices that improve soil health and resilience (FAO, 2023).

Education is the multiplier. When women farmers access training—whether literacy, agronomy, or market skills—productivity increases and households become more food secure. But extension systems still under-serve women, often due to delivery models that overlook their time, mobility, and social constraints (World Bank, 2024). Fixing this means redesigning how knowledge reaches them—locally, inclusively, and consistently.

Then comes the hardest shift: decision-making power.

Across Africa, women grow food—but rarely control the land, the income, or the decisions that shape their futures.

Weak land rights and social norms keep them on the margins. Yet evidence shows that closing gender gaps in agriculture could increase farm output by up to 10% and reduce poverty by 13% (FAO, 2023). When women lead—in cooperatives, households, and policy spaces—investment decisions improve, and communities become more resilient.

These gaps are interconnected. Finance unlocks technology. Technology strengthens resilience. Education amplifies voice. And decision-making sustains change.

This is why IYWF 2026 must go beyond recognition—it must drive gender-transformative action. Policies must not only include women, but also actively redistribute access to resources, information, and power.

Because the truth is simple: Africa cannot achieve Agenda 2063 or the Sustainable Development Goals while half its farmers remain constrained.

Amina, Mariama, and Almaz are not waiting for change—they are ready for it.

Because every season we delay, the cost is measured in lost harvests, lost incomes, and lost potential we can no longer afford. 

Same Waste, Different Mindsets: The Real Reason East Africa’s Cities Are Drowning in Garbage

A waste dumpsite in Kampala's Bwaise suburb (📷Kimbowa Richard)

At 6:30 a.m. in Kampala, Aisha ties a knot on a black polythene bag and sets it by the roadside. Inside is everything—banana peels, plastic bottles, leftover food, and her baby’s used diaper. When the truck comes, it will all go to the same place in Buyala (Kampala City Council’s new landfill site).

A few streets away, Peter does it differently. He separates his waste—organic for compost, plastics for sale.

Same city. Same waste. Completely different outcomes.

The Growing Waste Challenge

East Africa’s cities are expanding rapidly—and so is their waste problem. Urban populations in Sub-Saharan Africa are projected to nearly double by 2050, significantly increasing municipal solid waste generation (World Bank, 2018). In Kampala alone, the city generates over 1,500 tons of waste daily, yet a substantial portion remains uncollected or poorly managed (KCCA, 2022).

More than 50–60% of waste generated in East African cities is organic (UNEP, 2015). This means it could be composted or converted into energy. However, when mixed with plastics and hazardous waste, it becomes contaminated and largely unusable.

This is where segregation comes in—and why it starts in the mind, not the landfill.

The Real Problem: How People See Waste

In many East African cities, waste is still viewed as something to “throw away” rather than something to manage. This perception drives behaviours like open dumping and burning, which remain widespread in informal settlements and peri-urban areas (NEMA Uganda, 2020).

But the issue goes beyond awareness. It is behavioural:

• If waste is seen as useless, people won’t sort it.
• If sorting feels like extra work, it won’t happen.
• If responsibility is seen as “the government’s job,” behaviour won’t change.

Segregation demands a shift from “out of sight, out of mind” to “my waste, my responsibility.”

When Mindset Changes, Systems Work

Across East Africa, small but powerful examples show what happens when people rethink waste. In Kenya, enterprises like TakaTaka Solutions have built viable recycling models by working with households that separate waste at source (UN-Habitat, 2020). In Uganda, community initiatives like End Plastic Pollution Uganda are converting organic waste into compost and plastic into construction materials—unlocking both environmental and economic value.

These innovations succeed where behaviour supports them.

Because here’s the truth:
No recycling system can fix mixed waste.

Segregation is the foundation of a circular economy—where waste is minimized and materials are continuously reused (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2019).

Why Segregation is a Mindset Issue First

Policies, bins, and trucks matter, but they fail without behaviour change.

Studies show that knowledge alone does not lead to improved waste practices; attitudes, convenience, and social norms play a decisive role in whether households segregate waste (Guerrero, Maas & Hogland, 2013). In many cases, even where infrastructure exists, low participation undermines system efficiency.

This means real change requires:

• Reframing waste as value (organic waste = fertilizer, plastics = income)
• Normalising sorting at the household level
• Building community norms and accountability

In cities where segregation becomes “what everyone does,” adoption accelerates.

A People-Centred Way Forward

Back in Kampala, imagine if Aisha changed one habit—just one. She separates her banana peels. Her neighbour notices. Soon, a collector starts buying plastics in the area. A small ecosystem begins to form.

This is how transformation happens—not through policies alone, but through people.

East Africa does not just need better waste systems. It needs a cultural shift.

Because the future of its cities will not be determined by how much waste they produce—but by how people choose to see it.

References

• Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2019). Completing the Picture: How the Circular Economy Tackles Climate Change.
• Guerrero, L.A., Maas, G., & Hogland, W. (2013). Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries. Waste Management.
• Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) (2022). Solid Waste Management Status Report.
• National Environment Management Authority (NEMA Uganda) (2020). State of the Environment Report.
• UN-Habitat (2020). Waste Wise Cities Tool.
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2015). Global Waste Management Outlook.
• World Bank (2018). What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management.