WaterAid gets behind WASH United at World Cup

Join the club and support WASH United at the World Cup!

Credit: WASH United

9 June 2010

As World Cup football fever sets in, the whole world is looking to South Africa, to celebrate the magic of the beautiful game.

But what many of the millions of viewers watching won't know is that in the time it takes to play a World Cup match, 140 African children will lose their lives to preventable diarrhoea.

In fact, diarrhoea caused by dirty water, lack of toilets and poor hygiene kills more children than malaria, measles and HIV/AIDS combined.

This crisis has no place in the 21st century and a new campaign, WASH United, aims to shine the spotlight on this forgotten crisis at a time when Africa is in the full glare of the world's media. WASH stands for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

African football superstars including Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria), and Stephen Appiah (Ghana) have joined WASH United to fight for safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for all. Also on the team are Mark Van Bommel (Netherlands) and Arjen Robben (Netherlands):

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan are among the campaign's high profile non-footballing supporters.

WaterAid, End Water Poverty and other international organisations are also supporting the WASH United initiative.

Through the power of football, the WASH United campaign aims to:

tackle taboos related to sanitation
help to create demand for sanitation services
promote handwashing with soap
advocate for safe drinking water and sanitation as a human right

In Kenya, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Lesotho and South Africa, the initiative includes poster campaigns, events in schools to promote safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, and special World Toilet Cup games.

By raising awareness of the importance of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene to success in life and in sport, WASH United aspires to bring about life-saving change.

Support WASH United at the FIFA World Cup and together we can show diarrhoea the red card!