Our lives depend on water. Most people in the developed world have to walk only as far as the kitchen or bathroom taps to access clear water, safe from disease and pollutants – a convenience that is painfully unavailable for 783 million people on our planet.
In the countries where The Hunger Project (THP) works, communities have limited access to latrine facilities and safe water supplies. Even when improved sources of water exist, they are often more than 30 minutes away and require women and girls to travel there several times a day.
But more than something to drink or bathe with, water is a life-source. According to statistics from the United Nations, each person on Earth drinks between 2 and 4 liters of water each day – a mere fraction of the amount of water necessary to grow the food and raise the livestock necessary for us to lead healthy, sustainable lives.
In honor of this universally valuable resource, each March we celebrate World Water Day. This year’s theme calls on the global community to recognize our shared use of water and cooperate to ensure safe, convenient access for every woman, man and child. As stated by UN Water: “cooperation is essential to strike a balance between different needs and priorities” surrounding this valuable, life-giving resource.
Throughout THP’s programs in Africa, South Asia and Latin America, we empower our village partners to create and strengthen cooperatives to improve their lives and those of their families and communities. Organized groups provide countless advantages to community development. Group meetings become forums where members can voice and address common concerns and make decisions to take collective action on issues from education to family planning to access to clean water and sanitation. Cooperation between community members, regional government and local businesses have yielded water and sanitation innovations like water purifiers in rural Uganda, clean water boreholes in Burkina Faso and sanitation programs in Bangladesh.
Join us today in celebrating this phenomenal resource and relationship and join us this entire year in ensuring that successes LIKE THESE aren’t stand-alone achievements.
Learn More
- Water and Sanitation Facts
- Pictures of Water and Sanitation projects in our program countries
- Millennium Development Goal targets around Water and Poverty met in 2012
- Posters, activities, infographics and more on the official World Water Day page!
