Living our value of respect through anti-racism

2 min read

If ever there was a time to come together and stand up to defend equity, diversity, and inclusion, that time is now, as demonstrated by recent tragic events in the United States. And while the world continues fighting COVID-19, the evidence is that some communities are being disproportionately impacted by this virus, especially people of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

At WaterAid, everything we do is guided by our values. We stand against all forms of racism, injustice, and inequality.

We aim to treat everyone with dignity and respect, and to champion the rights and contribution of all to achieve a fairer world. We act with honesty and conviction and our actions are consistent with openness, equality and human rights.

In the diverse communities where we work, we know that making safe water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere depends upon identifying and addressing the reasons why the poorest and most marginalised people live without these basic services, and we are committed to tackling and challenging these inequalities.

Over the last few weeks, we have as an organisation and as individuals been reflecting on how we can practice active anti-racism and allyship.

We are passionately committed to WaterAid being an organisation where everyone is welcome, included, and where diversity is celebrated. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment or bullying.

We seek to work with and represent communities in a way that empowers them and reflects the reality of their lives.

Learning together

We are constantly learning about equity and inclusion and are taking this historic moment to refocus on how WaterAid as an organisation and our staff as individuals can truly and consistently live our values of respect, accountability, courage, collaboration, innovation and integrity during this global moment of reflection and action.

To help our learning we have put together resources that WaterAiders and others in our sector have been sharing with us that they have found useful to deepen their understanding of racism and active allyship against racism.

Over the coming weeks, we will be coming together as a global organisation to share, listen and then plan to address any issues that arise from that conversation.


It is our individual and collective responsibility to fight against racism, injustice and discrimination wherever and however it exists.

We commit as an organisation to continually listen, reflect, learn and take action to ensure that we are working towards a more equal and fair world for everyone, everywhere.