N&J Gives Back: Water Is the Way

If you are reading this, there is a good chance you woke up today and a drink of water was just steps away. For 771 million people around the world, this isn’t the case. Instead, it is a daily struggle to find the water they need to survive.

Today, 1 in 10 people lack access to safe water, and 1 in 4 lack access to a toilet. Water.org exists to change this. Founded by Gary White and Matt Damon, we pioneer market-driven solutions to the global water crisis and in doing so, have helped transform more than 51 million lives around the world.

Access to safe water and sanitation at home is fundamental to solving the world’s most urgent challenges.

Access to water:

• Gives women and girls time to start a business, go to school, and care for loved ones, instead of collecting water for their families.
• Enhances the resiliency of people living in poverty to the effects of climate change.
• Improves health and helps families protect themselves from illness and disease.

The water crisis may seem easy to solve from the outside: spend money to install wells and build toilets for people who need them and then raise money for the next community. However, charity alone will not solve the crisis when the need is so great.

Through years of experience, we found that millions of people pay high prices for water from vendors or they collect water from unsafe natural sources. Both options cost families time, money, opportunities, and health.

This is where our solution comes in. We partner with financial institutions in the 11 countries where we work to help them add loans for water and sanitation to their portfolios. Families in need can take out a small, affordable loan to fund the water or sanitation solutions that are best for them. Common solutions include household taps, household toilets, rainwater storage tanks, and piped water connections.

Small, affordable loans offer families the ability to purchase long-term safe water and sanitation solutions that solve their immediate needs, and over time, will cost less than continuing to pay for temporary fixes.

Access to safe water at home empowers women with time to earn income, kids with the time and health needed to go to school, and families around the world with bright futures. Read some of the stories of people whose lives are changed now that they have lasting access to safe water at home, thanks to the support of our partners like Northrop & Johnson.