Women, who often suffer from exploitation, violence and neglect, play the most committed role in any crisis. Nowadays, those who suffer the lack of access to water and sanitation are also the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The SDG 5 is in serious danger and we cannot tolerate this. No solution is possible without women being at the center of the response.

Water pollution due to illegal gold mines is a serious problem in Ghana, a country in which 70% of the diseases are caused by unsafe water. Galamsey is a phenomenon that prevents the economic growth of the country and pollutes rivers and aquifers to lethal levels. This is the case of the Ghanaian protagonist of the short film Nothing Has Changed, finalist of the We Art Water Film Festival 4.

The access to water or the lack thereof defines two types of homes: the comfortable ones, which allow a dignified and healthy life, and the ones which cannot provide their owners with anything remotely similar. Many of the 2.185 billion people with no safe access to water dream of having it at home. This is the case of the Cameroonian protagonist of the short film Utopia, finalist of the We Art Water Film Festival 3.

In Rwanda, one of Africa’s emerging economies, half of the population lacks access to water. In villages like Rugaramura, water supply disruptions last for weeks and its inhabitants have to fetch water outside the village. “Amazi”, one of the finalist short films of the We Art Water Film Festival 4, recreates an attitude that is the basis of the Rwandan people’s recovery: joy, a shared emotion that best integrates a community to face the future with confidence.

In the outlying slums of the capital of Sierra Leone, the population constantly increases in shacks without water or sanitation. Children bear the brunt: they miss school hours fetching water that often makes them sick. This is the reality of Kadija A. Bangura, shown in the micro-documentary Far Away, one of the finalists of the We Art Water Film Festival 4.

Those who are invisible in the censuses, discriminated women, the inhabitants of the most vulnerable slums, all those ruined by droughts, those surrounded by polluted water, those on the other side of the technological barrier and those with no access to education on hygiene; all these population groups risk being excluded of the attainment of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation.

On World Women’s Day it is vital to point out that adult and young women and girls bear the brunt of the more than 2.1 billion people with no access to clean water and the 2.4 billion that lack adequate sanitation. Regardless of the injustice this implies, it is not possible to imagine a sustainable planet with this scourge of inequality.

The winning of four iAgua Awards implies the recognition of the sector to the work of the Foundation and a motivation to move forward in the battle fought by mankind to achieve full access to water and sanitation. It is becoming increasingly urgent to raise awareness in society to create a common front against climate change, environmental degradation and poverty.