Rights need resources. The Maputo Protocol says so directly: Article 26(2) obliges States to “provide budgetary and other resources for the full and effective implementation of the rights herein recognised”. RFLD’s policy brief, Women, Water and Article 15 of the Maputo Protocol, looks at how much money goes into water in Africa, and how little anyone knows about the share that reaches women.
A sector short of money
The African Union’s press release on the launch of the Africa Water Vision 2063, in February 2026, cites an annual investment gap of US$30 billion. The Continental Africa Water Investment Programme, endorsed by the AU Assembly in 2021, aims to close it, with a target of USD 30 billion a year in water investment and more than 5 million jobs by 2030.
The global picture is no better. The UN-Water GLAAS 2025 report, published in January 2026 and launched at the preparatory meeting for the UN Water Conference in Dakar, surveyed 105 countries and territories. Fewer than 13% have enough financial and human resources for WASH. Among 20 countries with costed data, the gap between needs and available funds is 46%.
This is not new. In the 2022 edition of GLAAS, more than 75% of countries reported insufficient funding for their WASH plans. Only 45% were on track to meet national drinking-water targets, and 25% for sanitation.
Money is also lost within systems. GLAAS 2025 found that non-revenue water, meaning water produced but not billed, averages 39%. In 64% of countries, institutional roles overlap.
The missing gender line
RFLD’s brief found no water-specific gender budget tracker covering West African countries. Without one, it is hard to tell how much spending reaches women, or whether it reduces the time they spend collecting water.
Nigeria shows the problem in detail. UNICEF’s 2025 WASH Gender Landscape Analysis found that only the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation cited a gender budget line. Even there, the analysis “lacked evidence that this budget line was funded”. Half of respondents said gender funds were insufficient. Among the bodies reviewed, only the Kaduna State Ministry of Education had both a gender policy and a matching budget allocation.
In Cameroon, the National Water Compact for 2026 to 2030 costs 2,575 billion FCFA, about USD 4.54 billion. About 43% of that sum is described as already mobilisable. The Compact commits to sex-disaggregated data, which will help show who benefits.
Where money has followed women
There are encouraging examples. Ghana’s 2025 Budget allocated GH¢292.4 million for free sanitary pads for schoolgirls. In West and Central Africa, about USD 36.5 million has gone into menstrual health and hygiene since 2012, according to a 2021 regional symposium report, mostly through the health sector.
At continental level, WACDEP-G, the gender window of the Africa Water Investment Programme, has a budget of €25.6 million over six years. It aims to influence USD 1 billion in “gender equal and climate resilient investments”. Its pilot countries include Benin and Cameroon.
A WASH gender budget marker
RFLD’s central proposal is simple. States should introduce a WASH gender budget marker and report on it under Article 26(2) of the Maputo Protocol. A marker tags each budget line according to whether, and how much, it addresses women’s needs. It allows parliaments and citizens to follow the money.
The brief also asks States to publish water budgets that show who benefits. Budgetary allocation is one of the nine domains in the brief’s Article 15 reporting checklist.
What funders can do
Development partners and funders have a large say in how water money is spent. RFLD asks them to:
- require sex-disaggregated data and women’s participation targets in every water and sanitation investment;
- publish the results of those investments;
- fund women-led organisations directly to monitor water services and to take part in governance, including through climate adaptation finance;
- support national statistical offices to measure water collection by individual and violence at water points.
Direct funding matters. Women’s organisations often know first when a water point fails or becomes unsafe. Direct funding lets them act on that knowledge. For the full recommendations, read the summary of the brief.
About the report
This article draws on RFLD’s report Women, Water and Article 15 of the Maputo Protocol, published on 4 October 2026. Read the summary, download the English edition or the French edition.
