Dougray Scott launches WaterAid campaign after moving visit to drought-stricken Mozambique
Dougray, who can currently be seen starring as Sir Percival Glyde in the five-part BBC One series The Woman in White, which premiered on 22 April, made the trip to the southern African country as ambassador for WaterAid. The Scottish star met with women and children and learnt from them how a lack of clean water and decent toilets have a detrimental impact on their health, education and livelihoods.
During his trip, Dougray visited the northern state of Nampula, where he took a six-hour journey along bumpy dirt tracks to the small town of Cuamba. The area is nicknamed the ‘forgotten place’ by locals as more than half the population have no choice but to drink dirty water and thousands live in extreme poverty.
WaterAid ambassador, Dougray Scott, said:
"I have seen poverty before all over the world in different forms, but this visit left a profound and lasting effect on me. It was heart-breaking to speak to children who told me they’d never drank clean water before, and had no idea what it would taste like. As a father myself it’s just unimaginable. It isn’t right that in 2018 there are still children drinking dirty water that’s making them sick.
"We are very privileged just by the geography of where we happen to be born and I feel blessed by the opportunities that my career has brought for me and my family. I’m hoping my support for WaterAid’s Water Effect campaign will make a small difference to the lives of the women and children I met while in Mozambique, and together we can help bring an end to the global water crisis."
Mozambique is home to over 28 million people. More than half of the population don’t have clean water, and 2,500 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation.
WaterAid works with partners and communities to improve access to clean water and decent sanitation, by helping build taps and toilets and convincing governments to change laws to make lasting change happen on a massive scale.
Dougray added:
"Visiting Mozambique, I have seen how communities are completely transformed by the work that WaterAid does and how that changes peoples’ lives; not just giving them clean water but empowering the women to not just be water carriers. Having access to safe and clean water empowers women, and that is something I hadn’t really thought about before."
Globally, one in nine people lack access to clean water, while one in three have nowhere decent to go to the toilet. WaterAid’s 'Water Effect' campaign aims to reach more than 1 million people with clean water and calls for increased global efforts to get clean water and toilets for all, as these can have a powerful ripple effect across all other areas of development, improving health, education, livelihoods, and equality.
ENDS
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Notes to Editors:
WaterAid
WaterAid’s vision is of a world where everyone has access to clean water and sanitation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 34 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 25.8 million people with clean water and 25.1 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org/uk, follow @WaterAidUK or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid.
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844 million people in the world – one in nine – do not have clean water close to home.[1]
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2.3 billion people in the world – almost one in three – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]
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Around 289,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's almost 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.[3]
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Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity.[4]
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Just £24 can provide one person with clean water.[5]
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To find out if countries are keeping their promises on water and sanitation, see the online database www.WASHwatch.org
[1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines
[2] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines
[3] washwatch.org
[4] World Health organization (2012) Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage
