World Vision Ireland launches Irish Aid Funded Drought Response in Somalia as Women and Children Bear the Brunt of the Global Water Crisis
Thursday, 19th March, 2026 – As the world marks World Water Day, World Vision Ireland is highlighting the disproportionate burden that the global water crisis places on women and girls, while announcing a new €139,000 Irish Aid‑funded emergency project to support drought‑affected families in Somalia’s Nugaal region.
Worldwide, 2.1 billion people still lack safe drinking water, and in many communities, it is women and girls who walk long distances each day to collect it, sometimes up to 15 kilometres, according to joint research by World Vision and Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
In Somalia, these challenges have intensified. Consecutive failed rains and prolonged dry seasons have driven 3.4 million people into acute food insecurity, with Puntland among the areas worst affected. In some districts, up to 85% of households have been impacted by the drought, forcing families to move in search of water.
World Vision Ireland and World Vision Somalia are launching a new response in Dangorayo district, Nugaal, where access to clean water is increasingly scarce and the most vulnerable, especially women and children, face the highest risks.
Three Months of Lifesaving Support
The project will provide Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) to 510 vulnerable households, enabling families to purchase clean water, food, hygiene supplies, and other essential items through local markets. Each household will receive USD 70 per month for three months.
Priority will be given to female‑headed households, families with children under five at risk of malnutrition, internally displaced people, persons with disabilities, and those who have lost livestock due to the drought.
Gillian Barnett, CEO of World Vision Ireland, said “Water should never be the difference between a child thriving or a child going hungry. But in Somalia, women and girls are paying the highest price, walking further, risking more, and sacrificing opportunities just to secure the basics. This project is about dignity, choice, and protection at a moment of severe need.”
A Crisis that Deepens Inequality
Where families lack reliable access to water and sanitation, inequalities widen. Girls miss school, women lose income, and young children face life‑threatening diseases. In many communities, long walks for water crowd out every other opportunity, education, work, rest, and safety.
Parvin Ngala, World Vision’s Global Director for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, stated: “Harmful social norms often fail to value the time and effort women invest in securing water and similarly exclude them from decision making at home and beyond.”
World Vision’s global research shows that when clean water access is paired with women’s economic empowerment, communities transform: women gain more decision‑making power, families have greater savings, and children’s health improves.
World Water Day: A Global Call to Action
World Vision, a leading non-governmental provider of clean water globally, reaches one new person with clean water every 10 seconds. The organisation plans to reach 30 million people between 2023 and 2030 as part of its long-term commitment to water access.
This World Water Day, World Vision urges governments, donors, and the public not to overlook the daily burden placed on women and girls, and the simple interventions that can change everything.
ENDS
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
Media interviews are available with World Vision Ireland representatives. To arrange an interview, please contact Róisín Drayne at roisin.drayne@worldvision.ie.
World Vision is a global Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. World Vision carries out lifesaving humanitarian efforts with investments from numerous partners, including institutional donors, faith-based organisations, corporations and governments. For more information, please visit www.worldvision.ie.