{"id":319164,"date":"2026-03-08T12:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T12:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/319164\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T12:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T12:47:22","slug":"just-hours-from-nz-women-still-fight-for-basic-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/319164\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Hours From NZ – Women Still Fight For Basic Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday, 8 March 2026, 5:30 pm
Press Release: ChildFund New Zealand<\/a><\/p>\n

Too many women in our shared home of the Pacific still
\nstruggle to access clean water for their
\nfamilies.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s the 21st century, and yet only hours
\naway from New Zealand, women have to watch their children
\nget sick, or worse, from contaminated water. They have to
\nprioritise finding clean water instead of focusing on
\nearning an income or building a future,” says CEO of
\nChildFund New Zealand Josie Pagani.<\/p>\n

“Clean water has a
\ndomino effect. Get that right, and development across the
\nwhole Pacific will improve.”<\/p>\n

Nearby Pacific nations
\ncontinue to face barriers to health, including access to
\nclean water. Women and their children often walk for hours
\nto collect and boil unsafe water, a time-consuming and
\nexhausting task.<\/p>\n

“This is a practical problem that can
\nbe solved if we just come together as donors, businesses and
\naid charities to make it happen.<\/p>\n

“At ChildFund we
\nbelieve New Zealand could make sure every child in the
\nPacific has access to clean water by 2036, if we stick to
\nthis clear target and work together.”<\/p>\n

ChildFund New
\nZealand has partnered with Pacific communities for many
\nyears, as well as supporting women and children in places
\nlike Ukraine and Gaza, Sri Lanka and Africa. As part of a
\nglobal ChildFund alliance, it reaches over 36 million people
\nin 70 countries.<\/p>\n

Access to clean water is a global
\nissue:<\/p>\n

1 in 4 people worldwide still lack access
\nto safe drinking water. ( WHO)Women
\nand girls collect water in about 7 out of 10 households
\nwithout water on the premises. ( WHO)Globally,
\nwomen and girls spend 250 million hours per day collecting
\nwater. ( UN
\nWater)Over 1 billion women globally lack access
\nto safely managed drinking water services. ( UN)<\/p>\n

Advertisement – scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

“Thanks
\nto our supporters, we provided access to clean drinking
\nwater for 4,309 people across the world last year. What
\nmakes a real difference is that when donations go to water
\nprojects, every dollar is matched by five dollars from the
\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs,” says Josie Pagani.<\/p>\n

Solar-powered
\nwater purification units, costing only $250 each, plus
\ndesalination tanks, and water tanks have been introduced in
\nremote Pacific communities in the outer islands across the
\nPacific.<\/p>\n

“Gender equality is not an abstract thing.
\nIt\u2019s about everyday rights: clean water, good health,
\neconomic security for women and their children.<\/p>\n

“When
\ncommunities have the basics sorted, like clean water, women
\nare free to realise their potential, earn a living. All of
\nwhich helps to lift their communities out of
\npoverty.”<\/p>\n

“Clean water changes everything. So on this
\nInternational Women\u2019s Day, let\u2019s roll out more water
\nprojects to women and children across our own region,” says
\nJosie Pagani.<\/p>\n

For more information about ChildFund New
\nZealand\u2019s work in the Pacific and how women and
\ncommunities are leading their own change, visit childfund.org.nz.<\/p>\n

\n\u00a9 Scoop Media<\/a>
\n
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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sunday, 8 March 2026, 5:30 pmPress Release: ChildFund New Zealand Too many women in our shared home of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24633,172717,158708,4040,111,43,24636,139,69,153817,11112,2443,172718,377,153819],"class_list":["post-319164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-child-and-youth-issues","tag-childfund-new-zealand","tag-community-ngo-sector","tag-gender-issues","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newsworthy","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pacific-island-affairs","tag-scoop","tag-welfare","tag-womens-affairs","tag-world","tag-world-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}