Facts - how we work

WaterAid works with people in their communities to provide long-lasting solutions to their water and sanitation problems, and to help provide hygiene education...

We try and do this by:

• Using sustainable technology, which means any machines we use should be long-lasting, cheap to run, and easy-to-fix if they break.

• Tackling the problems of water, sanitation and hygiene education together - we call this an "integrated" approach.

• Working in partnerships with local organisations. We don't want to boss local people around and tell them what to do. Instead, we listen and find out what their needs are before trying to help.

• Getting the whole community involved, from children to grandparents. For a project to work it will need the support and involvement of everyone.

• Working in urban (city) as well as rural (countryside) areas. Amina lives in a rural area and Chandra lives in an urban area but they both face problems getting clean water and sanitation.
  WaterAid tries to help people whether they live in a huge city or a tiny village.
  

• Influencing others. We believe that in order to make things better for people, we need to try and influence the people who make the big decisions about how money is spent - governments, the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU), for example.