{"id":30399,"date":"2026-07-25T10:11:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T10:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/?p=30399"},"modified":"2026-07-25T10:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T10:28:07","slug":"fetching-water-a-burden-on-women-in-rural-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/2026\/07\/fetching-water-a-burden-on-women-in-rural-areas\/","title":{"rendered":"Fetching water; a burden on women in rural areas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although, according to Islamic Sharia and custom, providing safe drinking water is considered one of the responsibilities of the men in a household, the reality in many villages across Afghanistan shows that this responsibility largely falls on women. They say that because men are busy working outside the home, they play a smaller role in providing water, making it a daily responsibility for women.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Findings from Salam Watandar’s interviews with 25 women in seven provinces show that many of them spend between 20 minutes and one hour each day fetching drinking water. In some villages, especially during the summer, it takes even longer. Several of the women say that the time spent fetching water prevents them from completing other household chores and, in some cases, continuing their education.<\/p>\n

Of the 25 women interviewed, 20 said that they or their sisters are mainly responsible for providing their families’ drinking water, while the remaining five said they take on this responsibility only when the men in the family are away. All of the women called for the establishment of water supply networks and the drilling of deep wells in their villages.<\/p>\n

Mah Bibi, a 27-year-old resident of Pashtun Kot district in Faryab, says that the water source is about 10 to 15 minutes from her home and that she goes there twice a day to fetch water.<\/p>\n

“Most of the time, I am responsible for fetching water. I face problems such as carrying heavy containers, feeling tired, and not having proper equipment. Water shortages have a big impact on our lives and make household work much more difficult,” she says.<\/p>\n

Khosh Leqa Amini, a resident of Firozkoh, the capital of Ghor, says that carrying water over long distances in the summer heat and winter cold is one of the hardest parts of daily life.<\/p>\n

“Women and children are usually responsible for fetching water. They have to walk long distances and endure the summer heat and winter cold. In winter, there is heavy snow, and in summer, there is heat and dust. Sometimes we have to travel as far as eight kilometers to get water.”<\/p>\n

A number of women say that the responsibility of fetching water takes up so much of their time that it limits their opportunities for education.<\/p>\n

Masuma, a resident of Badghis, says that because she spends so much time fetching water from distant sources, she sometimes misses her classes.<\/p>\n

“During the summer, our well dried up, and we had to fetch water from a place farther away. This responsibility mostly falls on me and my sisters. When we go to fetch water, we miss our classes and madrasa by the time we return,” she says.<\/p>\n

Other women also complained about the poor quality and unhygienic condition of the drinking water in their villages.<\/p>\n

Shabo, a 31-year-old resident of Shegal district in Kunar, says that because dozens of families use the same well, access to water has become more difficult and its quality has declined.<\/p>\n

“The water source is about 20 minutes away, and the route is especially difficult for women and children. The path is not smooth; some parts are rocky, with uphill and downhill sections that make carrying water even harder. We fetch water about three times a day, and most of this responsibility falls on me and my daughters,” she adds.<\/p>\n

According to the women interviewed, they have to travel long distances every day to fetch water, putting heavy physical and psychological pressure on them.<\/p>\n

Rubina, a resident of Imam Sahib District in Kunduz, says that because the water distribution point is far from their home, the family uses a handcart to transport water, and when the men are not home, women do this work.<\/p>\n

“The place where the water tanker comes is about 15 minutes from our home. There is no road close to the house, so we bring the water from there by handcart. Sometimes we women do it ourselves, and when the men are home, they do it. Bringing water home, whether by hand or by handcart, is difficult and tiring,” she says.<\/p>\n

Ayesha Gul from Faryab also says that the distance between the water source and her home is so far that reaching it sometimes takes one to one and a half hours.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes we fetch water three times a day, and sometimes four. Sometimes my sister or I go, and sometimes my mother goes. The roads are in bad condition and cause back pain, leg pain, and pain in our hands,” she adds.<\/p>\n

Asiya, a 28-year-old resident of Yaftal district in Badakhshan, says that her family uses a donkey to transport water. She says,<\/p>\n

“We go three times a day with a donkey to fetch water. Most of the time, my younger sisters are responsible for this task because my brothers are busy with farming, and the water source is far away.”<\/p>\n

Sociologists say that assigning heavy work to women takes away their opportunities to care for their families, pursue education, and participate in society. Abdullah Raihan, a sociologist, says,<\/p>\n

“In many provinces, women do heavy work\u2014not only fetching water but also working in agriculture. We are very sensitive about some issues, but we pay little attention to the hard work women do. Women should not be forced to carry out such difficult work.”<\/p>\n

Religious scholars also believe that limited awareness of Islamic teachings among some families has led to heavy responsibilities, such as fetching water over long distances, falling mainly on women. Hasibullah Hanafi, a religious scholar, says,<\/p>\n

“According to Islam, providing alimony for a wife is obligatory upon the husband. However, many people do not know enough about Islamic rulings and place heavy work on women. Women carry out these responsibilities because they have no other choice.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development says that, in order to expand people’s access to drinking water, it has established 290 water supply networks in 31 provinces. Mohammad Rasoul Oqab, Head of Information and Public Awareness at the ministry, says,<\/p>\n

“The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development has constructed 290 water supply networks in 31 provinces at a cost of 1,216,288,044 Afghanis, providing nearly 600,000 people with access to drinking water.”<\/p>\n

Access to safe drinking water is one of the most basic needs of every family. Yet for many women living in rural areas of Afghanistan, meeting this need still means walking for hours, carrying heavy loads, and traveling along difficult routes.<\/p>\n

The findings of this report show that although both customs and Islamic teachings consider providing a family’s basic needs, including drinking water, to be the responsibility of men, in many villages across Afghanistan this burden falls mainly on women. In addition to the physical pressure, this responsibility also limits women’s opportunities for education, rest, and participation in social life.<\/p>\n

Reporter: Twoba Rasuli<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although, according to Islamic Sharia and custom, providing safe drinking water is considered one of the responsibilities of the men in a household, the reality in many villages across Afghanistan shows that this responsibility largely falls on women. They say that because men are busy working outside the home, they play a smaller role in providing water, making it a daily responsibility for women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":30400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[990,186,977,24],"tags":[207,707,2057,2058,2059,2060],"class_list":["post-30399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-investigative-reports","category-women-rights","category-women","tag-women","tag-water","tag-fetching-water","tag-rural-areas","tag-a-burden","tag-responsibility"],"views":5,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30399"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30404,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30399\/revisions\/30404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}