Support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery has transformed millions of lives since 2013 bringing clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to families across the world. And now in 2021, they’re helping us confront the devastating impacts of climate change as it affects water supplies for the most vulnerable.
Working together to transform lives
Today, millions of people are facing every day without a reliable supply of clean water, a safe place to go to the toilet, or the basic hygiene that can save them from infection. With all three, children are born healthier, get the chance to go to school and grow up to become adults. Women and men get to earn a living and whole communities start to thrive.
Since 2013, players of People’s Postcode Lottery have been supporting our mission to reach everyone, everywhere with these basic human rights, helping communities break free from poverty and change their lives for good.
In 2020, we saw more than ever just how vital these things are – especially in keeping everyone well. Washing hands with clean water and soap is crucial in stopping the spread of so many infections, including coronavirus. And as the climate changes, the difference is felt most urgently through people’s access to water – and this is where players’ support is making all the difference in 2021.
What’s the connection between climate change and water?
Climate change means greater uncertainty and hardship for many communities, but it’s the world’s poorest people who’ll suffer the most. More frequent and extreme floods as well as rising sea levels are polluting water sources. Meanwhile, longer droughts mean wells and springs run dry. When weeks go by without rain, families are forced to spend hours searching for water and turn to unreliable sources that could make them sick.
This year, alongside funding for our water, sanitation and hygiene work awarded by the Postcode Global Trust, players of People’s Postcode Lottery are also supporting our climate-resilient work as part of the £24m Postcode Climate Challenge. From Burkina Faso to Bangladesh, we’ll be building new systems, sharing the power of good hygiene and tackling the injustice of water poverty in 12 countries across the world.
Our work in drought-prone Mali will help communities monitor their own water supplies.
Pictured: Fatimata Coulibaly, a member of the Benkadi Women’s Group, takes a reading of a newly installed water meter, Segou Region, Mali.
WaterAid/ Basile Ouedraogo
In Burkina Faso, we’ll be working with communities to build and renovate existing water supplies as well as helping monitor water levels.
Pictured: Boukari Belem, a market gardener in Bazega Province (south central region), stands in his parched garden. The local dam dried up earlier than ever in 2021.
WaterAid/ Basile Ouedraogo
In Uganda, we’ll be working with communities to use rainwater harvesting, storage and conservation.
Pictured: Otyang Mary collects water from the edge of the river in Karomoja Region in Uganda – an area especially susceptible to a high degree of rainfall variability.
WaterAid/ James Kiyimba
In Ethiopia, we’ll be building a multi-village piped water system and training water committees to manage water resources.
Pictured: Leyew Animut sits in a coffee shop supplied by water with pipes he helped to build.
WaterAid/ Joey Lawrence
Our work in Bangladesh will include supporting schools, healthcare centres and communities facing rising sea levels and salt water intrusion.
Pictured: Priota sits with water from her community’s pond sand filter which removes poisonous arsenic and other contaminants from the water.
WaterAid/ DRIK/ Habibul Haque
Together, we make a bigger difference
Whether we raise waterpoints and toilets so they withstand floods, introduce technology that filters dirty water, store rainwater, tap into mountain springs or drill boreholes to get to groundwater – there are lots of ways we can improve water security through our work. Simple, everyday solutions can change lives.
We work with communities to identify the problems they face now and might face in the future because of climate change. We help them get involved in finding solutions and in managing their water. And we adapt the technology we use to suit their needs.
Through it all, we’ll be pushing governments to invest in giving everyone the clean water they need, whatever the changing climate brings. That’s how we’ll bring about lasting change – and we couldn’t do it all without players’ support.
Thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery
A huge thank you to the players of People’s Postcode Lottery – with their support, we’re able to keep demanding a world where everyone, everywhere has the clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene they need, no matter what the future might bring.
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