Civil Society, Conferences, Development & Aid, Education, Food & Agriculture, Gender, Global Governance, Headlines, Human Rights, Labour, Natural Resources, TerraViva Europe, TerraViva United Nations, Water & Sanitation, Women & Economy, Women in Politics, World Women Spend 40 Billion Hours Collecting Water By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print | Send by email Women in Africa spend 200 million hours collecting water. Credit: Charles Mpaka/IPS STOCKHOLM, Aug 31 2012 (IPS) - As the weeklong international conference on water concluded Friday, it was left to one of the keynote speakers from the United Nations to focus on a much neglected perspective on water and food security: the role of women.