Dear Ms. AI Yinfang, Deputy Director-General of CICETE,

Mr. HAO Zhao, Director-General of International Economic and Technical Cooperation and Exchange Center, Ministry of Water Resources,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning!

On behalf of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in China, it is my great pleasure to welcome you all to today’s event marking World Water Day. Today’s event is especially meaningful to me, as it is my first official event since arriving three weeks ago as Senior Advisor to UNDP China.

I am particularly pleased that we are joined today by the Ministry of Water Resources and other partners, whose expertise and leadership are essential to advancing this critical agenda. We thank them for their leadership and collaboration in this joint effort.

This year’s global theme, “Water and Gender,” is not only timely—it is long overdue.

The global water crisis affects everyone, but not equally. Around the world, 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 3.4 billion lacked safe sanitation facilities in 2025[i][ii]. In households, where water must be collected from outside the home, women continue to bear most of the responsibility, accounting for 70% of such cases[iii]. This burden limits their time for education, livelihoods, and rest—perpetuating cycles of poverty and inequality.

We all know that women and girls are disproportionately impacted by poor water and sanitation facilities. We also know that women possess invaluable knowledge and understanding of water sources, quality and reliability in their immediate surroundings. This makes them essential partners in water management and conservation efforts. It is also for this reason that the theme set by the UN for World Water Day 2026 is “Water and Gender”.

The data on the gender impact worldwide of water challenges is sobering: only 27% of countries have implemented gender mainstreaming in water resource management, and 15% have no such practices at all[iv]. Among indigenous and rural women, the disparities are even starker. In Paraguay, for example, 50% of indigenous women’s households lack access to improved water within 30 minutes walk from their household[v].

Across Sub-Saharan Africa nearly 80% of households lack direct water access and women bear the primary responsibility for water collection[vi]. In the Mekong region, women are responsible for water collection in over 80% of households, yet their voices remain largely absent from water governance decisions[vii]. In the Pacific Small Island Developing States, women bear the heaviest weight of climate-induced water scarcity: only 12% of women interviewed were members of water committees, compared to 36% of men, and 81% had never participated in water-related training, versus 64% of men[viii].

And globally, as of 2025, only 63% of gender-specific SDG indicators can be reliably monitored—leaving critical gaps in our ability to design inclusive policies and track progress[ix]. We cannot manage what we do not measure—and we cannot help those we do not see.

As we reflect on the 2026 UN World Water Development Report and its focus on gender, we are reminded that achieving SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) is inseparable from achieving SDG 5 (Gender Equality). Progress on one depends on progress on the other.

Here in China, this issue is equally important—and equally gendered. Nearly two-thirds of Chinese cities experience water scarcity, and in rural areas—home to over 500 million people—women often play a primary role in managing water for their families and communities[x]. Yet their voices remain underrepresented in water governance structures.

This is why the work of the UNDP-CICETE-Coca-Cola Water Governance Programme matters more than ever.

Since 2007, our partnership has mobilized nearly 40 million US dollars and implemented over 70 projects across 20 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities—from the Yangtze River to the Yellow River, and now extending to the Songhua River Basin.

The results speak for themselves:

• Cumulative water replenishment has reached 287.9 billion liters, with 11.8 billion liters contributed in 2025 alone.
• Over  2.88 million people have directly benefited from the programme.
• And for the first time, in 2025, women accounted for 51.9% of all direct beneficiaries—a milestone that reflects our deliberate and sustained commitment to gender equality.

But numbers only tell part of the story. The real impact is visible in communities across China.

At Lake Lugu, on the Yunnan-Sichuan border, Naxi women—across generations, from elders to youth—are leading ecosystem restoration and cultural preservation efforts. Through our newly launched project with Xihua University, we have established the "Dazu Society", an ecological value transformation platform, empowering village women through skills training, industry co-creation, and community engagement. Today, you will hear directly from these women about how water projects have transformed their lives.