ACCIONA joins the celebration of World Water Day on 22 March this year with the focus on the relationship between access to drinking water and gender equality, through an intervention in Madrid and an awareness-raising campaign on social networks. 

The campaign adopts the slogan chosen by the United Nations this year: “Where water flows, equality grows”, highlighting the fact that more than 2 billion people across the planet lack access to safe drinking water. In most places, women and girls are responsible for collecting water, which restricts their access to education, employment and other opportunities for self-development. 

To help put the spotlight on this situation, ACCIONA, together with the Trader’s Association of the neighbourhood of Salamanca in Madrid, will install a figure in Calle Serrano street (on the corner with Goya) on 21 and 22 March. The installation -which will alternate the figure of a woman carrying water with that of another woman studying- sets out to highlight the situation of women and girls who walk long distances to get water, a factor that conditions their personal and professional development. 

The action aims to raise public awareness around sustainable access to water in order to ensure quality of life and equal opportunities. The UN estimates that women and girls spend more than 200 million hours a day collecting water around the world. 

The initiative is being strengthened with a campaign on social networks that encourages people to share photos of the installation and to reflect on the link between water, development and equality.   

Universal access to potable water and sanitation is part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6, which is directly related to SDG 5 (gender equality). The United Nations considers that both objectives are key elements in sustainable economic and social development. 

ACCIONA has long-standing experience in the design, construction and operation of water treatment infrastructures, including desalination, drinking water and treatment plants in a number of countries. The company develops solutions aimed at guaranteeing access to water in contexts of scarcity of the resource, thereby contributing to the resilience of communities and improving their living conditions.