This webinar is organised by the IWA Sanitation and Water Management in Developing Countries Specialist Group and it is co-hosted by the International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA).

Women and girls often carry the responsibility of collecting water, and they are disproportionately affected by poor water services and contaminated water. However, their perspective has historically been excluded from large-scale efforts to improve water access in low-income settings. To overcome these inequalities, the voices and needs of women and girls must be at the forefront as we design new and effective methods of delivering safely managed drinking water to communities in developing regions. In response, this webinar will explore the crucial role of women in water resource management, particularly for water disinfection in small or rural communities.

The discussions will start with a presentation on the connections between women and water, what influences those connections, and their importance. Water disinfection using ultraviolet (UV) light will then be introduced as an emerging tool to improve access to safely managed water for small, remote water systems. This will then be tied back to the overall theme of the webinar with a presentation of the results of a study investigating women’s perceptions of a novel household UV disinfection system in rural indigenous communities in Mexico. Finally, a panel discussion will be held to explore the role of women in water access and considerations for the safe and effective implementation of UV disinfection from a technological, behavioural, and institutional point of view.