WaterAid responds to new UK campaign to end period poverty

on
4 March 2019
In
Periods

Responding to the announcement of new UK Aid support for organisations working to stamp out period poverty around the world, WaterAid Global Director of Campaigns Savio Carvalho said:

“All women and girls everywhere have the right to manage their periods with dignity and good hygiene. WaterAid’s work on water, sanitation and hygiene around the world includes teaching boys and girls about menstruation as a natural process, helping dispel the myths and taboos, and ensuring girls and women can care for themselves with dignity and privacy. 

“We welcome this commitment to ending period poverty by 2030, and look forward to hearing more details.”

WaterAid works in 28 countries delivering water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, including menstrual hygiene. In Nepal, UK aid from the British people delivered through WaterAid has ensured that 104 schools and 14 communities, reaching more than 28,000 students and almost 10,000 community members, have received access to water and sanitation and included both girls and boys in hygiene clubs that teach about menstruation as a natural process.

ENDS  

For more information, please contact: 
Carolynne Wheeler, news manager, [email protected]
or +44 (0)207 793 4485, or Fiona Callister, global head of media, [email protected] or +44 (0)207 793 5022 
Or call our after-hours press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552
or email [email protected] 
 
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 28 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.

  • 844 million people in the world – one in nine – do not have clean water close to home.[1]

  • 2.3 billion people in the world – almost one in three – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]

  • Around 289,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's more than 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.[3]

  • Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity.[4]

  • Just £15 can provide one person with clean water.[5]

  • 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

[5] www.wateraid.org/uk