The missing link in water stewardship: why gender equity is not an add-on
As water scarcity intensifies, businesses must rethink not only how much water they use but who is most affected by its depletion. This article explores why gender equality, disability and social inclusion are essential to effective corporate water stewardship, helping companies reduce operational risks, strengthen community trust and build more resilient, equitable water management strategies.
In Afghanistan, national programmes are bringing better water and sanitation services to rural parts which face water shortage (Photo: World Bank Photo Collection, via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
As pressure on freshwater resources increases, it is time for business to ask not only ‘How much water are we using?’ but also ‘Who bears the cost when we use it and what is our responsibility to them?’
Water is more than a resource. It is a strategic asset that underpins the health of communities, ecosystems and business operations. Yet as freshwater supplies tighten because of over-extraction, pollution and climate change, companies face increased water-related risks that threaten production continuity, reputation and long-term licence to operate.
To mitigate these risks, businesses are embracing corporate water stewardship: an approach that moves beyond internal efficiency gains to collaborative, catchment-level action.
A recent briefing highlights a critical blind spot in many water stewardship efforts: a failure to consider how water scarcity and governance affect different people unevenly, especially women and other marginalised groups. Applying a gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) lens isn’t just a matter of social justice; it is essential to effective operational risk management and community resilience.
Managing water risk through good water stewardship
Corporate water stewardship seeks to ensure that a company’s water use is environmentally sustainable, socially equitable and economically beneficial within the river basin where it operates. It extends corporate action from on-site usage to shared watershed risks, bringing business into dialogue with government and other stakeholders. Good water stewardship requires meaningful consultation with local communities.
However, IIED’s research found that few companies embed GEDSI considerations into their water stewardship practices. Many corporate commitments mention community engagement, but most do not identify enough the differentiated impacts of water insecurity across social groups, nor ensure that diverse local voices are part of decision-making.
While this gap also impacts people with disabilities, indigenous groups, very poor people and other marginalised groups, we mark International Women’s Day by highlighting the challenges and implications for women specifically.
Water insecurity hits women harder
Gender and inclusion matter for successful water stewardship. In many parts of the world, women and girls are primarily responsible for sourcing household water, requiring them to spend hours away from education, paid work or community leadership.
Women’s economic roles are constrained by water insecurity, from agriculture and aquaculture to small enterprise and informal services, restricting their capacity to grow businesses or adopt water-efficient farming practices. Women and girls are also worse affected than men by climate change-driven disasters such as floods and droughts: women are 14 times more likely to die in climate disasters.
Despite their key role in water household management and their deep knowledge of water availability and challenges, women of all ages tend to be excluded from formal water governance structures. This under-representation can result in solutions that fail to address real needs.
From a business perspective, ignoring these differentiated realities increases the likelihood that stewardship interventions fail. When water programmes are designed without attention to the needs of women and other marginalised groups, they risk low adoption, conflict over resources, and reputational harm.
Embedding equity and inclusion in corporate water stewardship
The new briefing showcases how GEDSI integration strengthens corporate water stewardship. A compelling example comes from leading global beverage producer Diageo. Diageo has woven gender considerations into its water-related community engagement and WASH initiatives. Its approach involves:
- Setting up water management committees with equal representation from men and women to elevate women’s voices in governance at the community level
- Partnering with organisations skilled in gender and inclusion to ensure that WASH infrastructure and programmes reflect the needs of diverse users, not the “average worker”
- Supporting the development of GEDSI-aware engagement tools that help workers and communities identify risks and solutions together
GEDSI is not an add-on. It can strengthen business outcomes by deepening community trust, improving relevance of interventions and enhancing effectiveness of water risk management. When women participate meaningfully, the data and insights available to companies improve, leading to better decisions and more durable solutions.
Practical steps for business to mainstream GEDSI in water stewardship
IIED’s research generated recommendations for companies who want to embed GEDSI into their water stewardship practices:
- Embed GEDSI into water policy and supplier expectations, not just sustainability reports.
- Assess water risk through a GEDSI lens, supplementing conventional hydrological analysis with social and gender analyses.
- Design facilities and programmes with real users in mind, considering safety, dignity and accessibility — including for women, people with disabilities and youth.
- Build capacity of suppliers and local partners to champion inclusive water stewardship downstream in supply chains.
- Collect disaggregated data and use GEDSI metrics in monitoring to reveal patterns that would otherwise remain invisible.
- Work with local women’s groups and NGOs to shift power dynamics and strengthen community voice in basin-level water governance.
A strategic approach to water stewardship pays off
For forward-looking companies, investing in GEDSI-responsive water stewardship is more than just the ethical choice. It is highly strategic: it reduces hidden operational and social risks, fosters stronger community relations and positions companies as leaders in sustainability.
In a world where water risks intersect with social inequities, business leaders who understand and act on gendered and inclusive dynamics will be better equipped to create resilient, equitable and profitable models of water stewardship. The future of sustainable business depends on it.
This blog was originally published by Business Fights Poverty.
