WaterAid is an international organisation whose mission is to transform the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people by improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene. Since 1981, they have reached 23 million people and gone from strength to strength to become one of the most respected organisations dealing solely with water, sanitation and hygiene issues.
‘WaterAid has teams in 28 countries across the world, working with its partners to transform millions of lives every year by improving access to clean water, toilets and hygiene. 758 million people in the world - one in ten- do not have clean water close to home. When a community gets clean water for the first time, it’s the start of something truly life-changing.'
For many years the congregation of St Ninians Old has supported the essential work of WaterAid
The crisis which exists:
Around 315,000 children under-five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation. That's almost 900 children per day, or one child every two minutes.
Diarrhoea is the third biggest killer of children under five years old in Sub-Saharan Africa. (Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) 2012)
Diarrhoea is the second biggest killer of children under five years old worldwide. (Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) 2012)
Every minute a newborn baby dies from infection caused by a lack of safe water and an unclean environment. (WHO, 2015)
42% of healthcare facilities in Africa do not have access to safe water. (WHO/UNICEF, 2015)
Every year, around 60 million children are born into homes without access to sanitation. (Progress for children, UNICEF, 2006)
Half the hospital beds in developing countries are filled with people suffering from diseases caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene. (UNDP Human Development Report, 2006)
Lack of water, sanitation and hygiene costs Sub-Saharan African countries more in lost GDP than the entire continent gets in development aid. (Using percentage estimate from UNDP: Human Development Report, 2006)
Nearly half the people who gained access to water between 1990 and 2008 live in India and China. (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation 2010)
One study estimates that funding for water and sanitation infrastructure is lacking by US$115 million a year in Sub-Saharan countries. (Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) Study), while WHO gives a global estimate of $535 billion needed in new capital investment to reach universal access, or $26.75 billion per year between 2010 and 2030. (Hutton, WHO, 2012)
The average person in the UK uses 150 litres of water a day. In Australia it's around 500 litres and in the USA, over 570 litres. (UNDP: Human Development Report, 2006: page)
Water in Accra, Ghana, costs three times as much as in New York. (UNDP, 2006)
Across the countries where we work, people have to walk an average of 30 minutes to collect water and return home. In some cases it can be a lot longer. (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on sanitation and drinking water, 2012 update)
Women in Africa and Asia often carry water on their heads weighing 20kg, the same as the average UK airport luggage allowance. (UNDP: Human Development Report, 2006).
Last year St Ninians Old raised over £1000 for WaterAid a truly magnificent sum. Could we better that this year?
This year please continue to support WaterAid as generously as you have in the past. You can give online by this link https://www.wateraid.org/uk/donate or if your prefer you can send a cheque to WaterAid, 6th Floor, 20 Canada Square, London. E14 5NN