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Providing Water Services To the Poor

Water Services to the Poor
Water services to the poor are severely lacking around the globe. The World Health Organization estimates that 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services. Moreover, more than twice as many people lack safe sanitation. Consequently, 361,000 children less than the age of five die from diarrhea, every year. Of the people who do not have safely managed water, 844 million do not even have basic drinking water services. These conditions compel 263 million people to collect water from sources far from home — a process that takes over 30 minutes per trip. A further 159 million people still drink untreated water from surface water sources, such as streams or lakes.

At the current pace, the world will fall short of meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (U.N. SDG) of universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030. Accelerating efforts to meet this goal will cost as much as $166 billion per year for capital expenditures alone. It seems that to achieve this U.N. SDG, something must change and soon.

A New Funding Approach

Private finance could play an important role in expanding access to improved, reliable water services to the poor. However, most providers that serve the poor are not privately financeable in their present state and will continue to require subsidies. Hence, development assistance and philanthropic funds are of utmost importance to protect the global poor.

A global funding model, known as a conceptual Global Water Access Fund (GWAF), has been established in other sectors to raise additional funds for targeted interventions. It pools resources in a way that provides incentives for access and utility performance for poor households.

This method is tried and tested. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, received $15 billion in pledges and yielded a net increase in funding. Unitaid, an organization that accelerates access to high-quality drugs and diagnostics in developing countries, generated more than $1 billion through a levy on airline tickets.

Investments in the poor are often perceived as having low or even negative returns. Therefore, pro-poor utilities face challenges entering financial markets. This also explains why profitable utilities are hesitant to expand their services to the global poor. GWAF changes this by bridging the funding gap and placing pro-poor utilities in stronger positions to attract capital for further service investments.

Making Individual Change

Though funding seems like a larger issue, there are ways for individuals to support clean water for all. Many nonprofits focus on bringing clean water services to the poor. Here are three organizations that are dedicated to the proliferation of clean water services to the world’s poor.

3 Nonprofits Tackling Global Water Services for the Poor

  1. Pure Water for the World works in Central American and Caribbean communities. The organization aims to provide children and families with the tools and education to develop sustainable water, hygiene and sanitation solutions. They directly connect fundraising dollars with impact, which immediately helps potential supporters see how their donation or peer-to-peer fundraising campaign will make a difference for the people they serve.
  2. Blood:Water is another nonprofit that works to bring clean water and HIV/AIDS support to over 1 million people. They partner with African grassroots organizations to make a change in 11 countries. Blood:Water works to provide technical, financial and organizational support to grassroots organizations. In this vein, they aim to help strengthen their effectiveness in their areas of operation.
  3. Drop in the Bucket’s mission is another organization that works towards water sanitation. They build wells and sanitation systems at schools throughout sub-Saharan Africa, enabling youth to fully harness the life-changing power of education. They teach the importance of clean water, hands and living spaces. Furthermore, the organization encourages girls to go to school, instead of spending hours fetching water.

Remaining on Track

Although sustainable development goals seem a difficult achievement to reach, innovative techniques such as GWAF and individual efforts through donations take steps in the right direction in ensuring water services to the poor. With nonprofit organizations such as the aforementioned as well as assistance from international organizations and governments like, there is still hope in reaching the U.N. SDGs.

–Elizabeth Qiao
Photo: Pixabay

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Top 10 Countries That Lack Access to Clean Water

lack access to clean water
About 2.1 billion people around the world do not have access to clean running water and sanitation facilities. Another 2.3 billion people do not have the luxury of accessing toilets. Clean water is important because it is directly linked to “better health, reductions in parasitic infections, increased child growth and lower morbidity and mortality.” Here are 10 countries that lack access to clean water.

10 Countries That Lack Access to Clean Water

  1. Afghanistan: With only 22 percent of its population having access to clean water, Afghanistan has one of the lowest rates of clean water access in the world. About 87 percent of the nation’s water is contaminated.
  2. Cambodia: Since the majority of the population is dependent on catching and storing rainwater, it leaves an estimated 84 percent of the population with no access to water. This leaves 5 percent of the population dependent on water deliveries.
  3. Congo: 75 percent of the country’s 51 million people do not have access to clean water. About 21 percent of people in rural areas can not reach pure water, which is double the level it was five years prior.
  4. Pakistan: Pakistan is known for having the biggest gap between the rich and poor when it comes to basic hygiene. This leaves 22 million people, or 64 percent of the nation, with no access to clean water.
  5. Uganda: About 40 percent of the population has to travel more than 30 minutes to reach drinkable water. A little over 61.1 percent of the 42.3 million population has access to safe drinking water.
  6. Ethiopia: The high mortality rate in Ethiopia is linked to the quality of water in the country. Due to poor water management and water-intensive farming, 60.9 percent of people have no access to water.
  7. Somalia: Water delivery systems have been destroyed due to post-war problems. This has left 60 percent of the population with no basic access to water and 11.7 percent of people consuming untreated surface water.
  8. Nigeria: Even though Nigeria is one of the fastest-improving countries in regards to water sanitation, 15 percent of its residents have no access to this vital resource.
  9. Chad: Chad has a square mileage of 800,000, which is three times the size of California. But only 15,000 square miles of the country has water. This leaves 33 percent of the nation’s population with the struggle of accessing clean running water.
  10. Syria: The Syrian conflict is hindering humanitarian aid agencies from delivering water and supplies. As of right now, only 10 percent of people lack access to water.

NGOs Helping On The Ground

While these populations of people are suffering due to their lack of access to safe, clean, drinkable water, there are many foundations and NGOs helping to fight this issue.

Water.org is an NGO focused on helping people find a way to be able to attain safe clean drinking water. The organization offers small and affordable loans called WaterCredit to help families obtain sanitized water. Water.org has helped more than 223,000 Ethiopians with improved water, sanitation and hygiene services. WaterCredit has also reached 40,000 people, providing them with clean water for five years.

UNICEF along with the Ministries of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Public Health and Education, as well as local and global partners have come together to resolve the water crisis in Afghanistan. The plan is to end open defecation by 2025 by using their Community-Led Total Sanitation approach. This approach is a combination of “shock, shame, disgust and pride” to motivate people to build their own toilets. In 2017, the partnership has helped 300,000 Afghans reach clean and safe water. This initiative has also helped girls stay in school by installing washrooms so that they can manage their periods and feminine hygiene needs in school instead of staying home.

– Isabella Gonzalez
Photo: Flickr
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5 Nonprofits that Provide Clean Water to the World

nonprofits that provide clean waterClean drinking water is a necessity that many in developed countries rarely ponder about. Yet, for more than 780 million people around the world, clean drinking water is a luxury that is difficult to access. Because of this widespread lack of clean water, more than 3.4 million people die every year from causes related to poor water and sanitation. Nevertheless, there are many nonprofit organizations that have made it their mission to address this global clean water crisis. Here are five nonprofits that provide clean water to the world.

5 Nonprofits that Provide Clean Water

  1. Charity: Water – One of the most widely known nonprofits that provide clean water to the world is Charity: Water. Scott Harrison founded the organization in New York City in 2006 after he witnessed the life-threatening effects of contaminated water in Liberia. Charity: Water is a nonprofit that brings clean and safe drinking water to developing countries. It has funded 38,113 water programs in 27 developing countries for more than 9.6 million people in Africa, Asia, Central and South America. Throughout the past nine years, the organization has dug more than 16,000 water projects, set new standards for donor engagement and public communication and raised more than $200 million from donors. Every penny of Charity: Water’s donations go directly to clean water technologies.
  2. Blood:Water – Blood:Water is a nonprofit that has partnered with grassroots organizations in sub-Saharan Africa to bring clean water and HIV/AIDS support to African communities since 2004. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, the organization was founded by the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning band Jars of Clay and activist Jena Lee Nardellaone. Blood:Water provides an array of solutions for different African community’s needs. In addition, to providing HIV/AIDS community care and support and capacity building for its African partners, Blood:Water provides water, sanitation and hygiene solutions, such as wells, toilets and handwashing stations. This organization has worked with more than a dozen African grassroots organizations and has brought clean water to one million people in 11 different countries.
  3. Water.org – When actor Matt Damon and Gary White merged their organizations, H2O Africa and WaterPartners, they formed Water.org in 2009. Its headquarters is currently in Kansas City, Missouri. Water.org provides access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries. It works with local partner organizations to build wells and provide thorough training seminars on the importance of good hygiene practices and its link to better health. Water.org created the WaterCredit system as a long-term solution, which provides household sanitation and safe water by giving expert resources and small loans. This organization works in 13 countries and has provided safe water and sanitation to more than 21 million people. Its commitment to providing safe water and sanitation to everyone is why it has great ratings and is ranked in the top 10 percent of global charities in regard to its financial accountability and transparency.
  4. Lifewater International – As the oldest organization on this list of nonprofits that provide clean water to the world, Lifewater International was established in 1977 by William A. Ashe. Headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California, Lifewater’s mission is to “end the global water and sanitation crisis one village at a time.” It focuses on managing training sessions for field staffers in fields such as water treatment, sanitation, community health through hygiene, well drilling, hand pump repair, effective community development and WASH in schools. This organization takes great pride in its transparency and accountability and performs systematic checks on projects even after they are completed. Since its inception, Lifewater has helped 2.5 million people across 45 countries.
  5. Generosity.org – The final organization on this list of nonprofits that provide clean water to the world is Generosity.org. Philip Wagner founded the organization in 2008 with a commitment to “providing clean water for drinking and sanitation needs, one community at a time.” It is headquartered in Valley Village, California. Generosity.org collaborates with its local partners to utilize their knowledge and expertise to select the proper water solution for each region. These solutions include rain-harvesting systems, wells and spring protection systems. To date, Generosity.org has helped 470,000 people, funded 813 water projects and served 20 countries.

Unclean water is an issue that still needs to be solved in many developing countries. The above list describes some of the most widely known nonprofits that provide clean water to the world. Like many of the other crises the developing world faces, the work of these and other organizations may make the global water crisis an issue of the past.

– Jacob Stubbs
Photo: Flickr