News

Glastonbury 2003

Jo Whiley supporting the Flush out Poverty campaign at Glastonbury.

Credit: Moe Kafer / rpm

WaterAid is known for its unusual costumes at Glastonbury Festival which have previously included giant taps and toilets. But this year we went a step further with a giant poo, complete with feeding fly, to help highlight WaterAid's cause.

The costume was an instant success and everyone from the Guardian, Sky News and the BBC through to Ukrainian MTV wanted to find out more.

WaterAid is one of the three main charities at the Glastonbury Festival, receiving over £50,000 from the event. The festival provides a perfect opportunity to talk about our issues - where else in the UK do 150,000 people really have to worry about the state of their toilets for three days?

With Glastonbury's new slogan 'think globally, act globally' WaterAid's profile was given a boost this year. Teams of volunteers ensured the WaterAid loos kept the reputation of being the best on the site and that thirsty dancers by the main stage had free water on tap from the WaterAid stand. In total £10,000 in donations was received during the event.

A big thank you to all of the volunteers who helped to make this year so successful and to rpm for their invaluable support.

Massukos wins Cannes award

Massukos rocks the crowd at Cannes.

Credit: Xavier Docquin

The Mozambican band Massukos was awarded the International Prize for Water, Creation and Arts at the Cannes Water Symposium on 25 June. Coming from the remote Niassa region, the members of the band are all passionate about development.

Three band members work for Estamos, Mozambique's largest indigenous water, sanitation, HIV/AIDS and agriculture NGO, which is supported by WaterAid. Another works for Ulongo, a WaterAid partner organisation which performs plays to raise the demand for water and sanitation services in poor communities.

The band is one of Mozambique's most popular groups and they use their high profile to raise awareness of the social issues dealt with by WaterAid and its partners. Through their lyrics they encourage people to adopt good hygiene practices such as building wells, drinking clean water and washing hands before eating or after visiting latrines.

HRH The Prince of Wales supports WaterAid at Rotary Conference

WaterAid's President His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales attended the RIBI conference in Blackpool.

Credit: Warren Smith

Between July 2002 and June 2003 WaterAid was delighted to be the beneficiary of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) President's preferred International project. WaterAid has benefited tremendously from the support of Rotary and last year gave us an opportunity to strengthen our partnership further.

In April WaterAid's President His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales attended the RIBI conference in Blackpool. The Prince addressed the delegates on WaterAid's work that Rotary Clubs  have supported in Tanzania throughout the year.

During his speech the Prince of Wales, himself an honorary Rotarian, said, "On behalf of WaterAid and all the beneficiaries in Tanzania, I would like to thank most warmly, and with heartfelt enthusiasm, Rotarians for their dedication and support, and for working together in partnership with WaterAid. And I do hope that at the end of this Rotarian year, many of you will feel inspired perhaps to continue in the years ahead to support the vital work that WaterAid does."

The Prince also met with long-term Rotarian WaterAid supporters including Doug Muncey, Bill Jollans and Derek Pimble all of whom have given WaterAid invaluable support in helping to build the relationship between WaterAid and RIBI over the last 20 years.

WaterAid Bangladesh expanding

Enjoying the privilage of having a wash, made possible with WaterAid's help.

Credit: Martin Argles

WaterAid Bangladesh has secured a £15.5 million grant from the UK's Department for International Development to expand its programme helping vulnerable communities in difficult environments over the next five years.

The initiative, called Advancing Sustainable Environmental Health (ASEH), will enable WaterAid and its partner organisations to make lasting improvements to the health, quality of life and livelihoods of millions more people in poor rural and urban communities in Bangladesh.

As well as improving the lives of the communities directly targeted by the initiative, the aim is that other local, national and regional agencies will be influenced to adopt and adapt the participatory 'total sanitation' approach where the demand for water and sanitation is generated among communities first.

The initiative aims to establish an alternative approach to the provision of water and sanitation facilities alone. It aims to prove that ensuring that improved hygiene practices accompany new water supplies and latrines is the key to delivering long-lasting health benefits to poor communities.

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