How improving water security is tackling the gender gap in Mexico City

In Mexico City, where water scarcity disproportionately affects marginalized groups, a government program implementing rainwater harvesting systems has reduced the time women spend securing water by 20%-30%. By prioritizing female-headed households and providing gender-equal training, the initiative addresses the gender gap in unpaid domestic labor and strengthens urban water resilience through green infrastructure.

• Water scarcity in Mexico City creates a significant gender gap in unpaid labor, with women in some municipalities spending up to 4.4 working days per week on water-related activities.
• The Rain Harvest program, launched in 2019 in Iztapalapa and Xochimilco and later expanded to six other areas, uses rainwater harvesting systems to provide families with water for five to eight months of the year.
• The Rain Harvest program has specifically targeted vulnerable groups, resulting in over 13,000 female heads of household benefiting, who represent approximately 65% of the installed systems.
• The initiative has successfully reduced the time spent by women ensuring household water supply by 20%-30% and increased the proportion of homes with an equitable distribution of water tasks from 34% to 55% through gender-focused training.
• Mexico City faces severe water stress, with 85% of its water coming from compromised sources and groundwater in the Valley of Mexico’s Basin decreasing by 55% over the last decade.

APA

Pool, A. B. E. H. R. J.-R. (2021). How improving water security is tackling the gender gap in Mexico City. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/water-security-gender-gap-mexico-city/

Chicago

Pool, Alejandra Bosch, Eduardo Hinojosa Robles, John-Rob. How improving water security is tackling the gender gap in Mexico City. World Economic Forum, 2021. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/water-security-gender-gap-mexico-city/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pool |first1=Alejandra Bosch, Eduardo Hinojosa Robles, John-Rob |title=How improving water security is tackling the gender gap in Mexico City |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=1 September 2021 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/water-security-gender-gap-mexico-city/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pool2021how, author = {Pool, Alejandra Bosch, Eduardo Hinojosa Robles, John-Rob}, title = {{How improving water security is tackling the gender gap in Mexico City}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/water-security-gender-gap-mexico-city/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }