Water is one of the most valuable resources on the plant.
However, with drinkable tap water and an abundance of water bottles available, clean
water is often taken for granted in developed countries. In contrast, more that
780 million people around the world do not have access to clean water, a number
equivalent to more than two and half times the population of the United States.
The lack of access to clean water has dire health impacts, with 3.4 million
people dying from a water related disease each year.
Women are particularly impacted by the lack of access to
clean water. In many areas, women are responsible for collecting clean water
for daily cooking and cleaning activities. When the water source is remote,
women spend a disproportionate amount of time traveling to access it. Young female
teenagers who help their mothers with these chores are forced to skip school to
travel far distances, resulting in them falling behind in their studies and
limiting their future career prospects
Many NGOs have attempted to address the water crisis through
well and hand pump projects. Unfortunately, while some projects have been
successful in bringing access to clean water closer to people, the majority of
these projects have failed. Statistics published by the UN Joint Monitoring
Program estimates that water projects in Africa have a failure rate as high as
60%. These failures can be attributed to a couple different factors:
- Locals did not have a sense of pride or ownership of the facility so it would fall out of use
- People were not trained on maintenance and facility upkeep
- There was an unreliable supply chain for project parts
- People had insufficient knowledge of the importance of clean water and hygiene so they did not use the facility
The non-profit Water.org has taken an innovative new
approach in addressing the water crisis by using microfinance tools with their
WaterCredit program. Through WaterCredit, financial institutions are connected
to families and individuals who are given loans to pay for water connection
services. As the loans are paid back, they are given to other people in need,
creating a sustainable cycle.
WaterCredit differs from other water projects in that it
empowers communities and individuals to be responsible for their own water
development and operations. People are involved with the decision making
process and thus have a more vested interest in the success of the projects.
The video below gives a brief overview of the water crisis,
Water.org, and the WaterCredit program. There is still quite a bit of work
before access to clean water is no longer an issue around the world, but
innovative programs like WaterCredit create a renewed sense of hope and urgency
in addressing the water crisis.
Sources:
(2) Voss Foundation. A look at why water
projects fail (when organizations don’t plan sustainably. http://www.vossfoundation.org/a-look-at-why-water-projects-fail/.
(3) Bornstein, David. (2013 August 21). The
Real Future of Clean Water. The New York Times. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/the-real-future-of-clean-water/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0.
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