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WaterAid/ Ernest Randriarimalala

Keyway + WaterAid

Water means life, education, safety, and dignity. Water means a future. 

The WaterAid Goal: To bring WASH(WAter, Sanitation, Hygiene) to Everyone, Everywhere by 2030.

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WaterAid/ Anna Kari
The Importance of Water
As you travel the world, experience new places, soak up the culture, and indulge in exciting food and drink, the things that likely never crosses your mind are if you have enough water to get through the day, if you have a safe place to go to the washroom, or if you can wash your hands.

We take these things for granted, especially when the travels are done and we're back at home where clean water, toilets, sinks, and showers are not given a second thought. Unfortunately, for hundreds of millions of people around the world, the things we take for granted are a daily battle.
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WaterAid/ Joey Lawrence
Water Crisis
  • 800 Million people around the world do not have access to an improved water source 2
  • 2.5 Billion people do not have access to improved sanitation 1,3
  • An estimated 800,000 children under the age of 5 perish each year from bacterial infections due to lack of hygiene and sanitation 4
  • 1 in 5 children can not regularly attend school because of the need to gather water for their families 8,9
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WaterAid/ Jordi Ruiz Cirera
Who is at Risk?
Developing nations are among the hardest hit by lack of WASH. Regions with the lowest improved water and sanitation accessibility are: 12

  • Sub-Saharan Africa (31%)
  • Southern Asia (33%)
  • Eastern Asia (65%)
Women are disproportionately affected as they are often responsible for collecting water for the family. Time spent traveling to gather water is time that can't be spent on education, work, or caring for a family. This perpetuates the cycle of poverty.
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WaterAid/ Nana Kofi Acquah
The Solutions
While no single solution exists for this global issue, the introduction of WASH (WAter, Sanitation, and Hygiene) has the potential to prevent 9.1% of the global disease burden and 6.4% of all deaths 1 ; though, introducing WASH is no small feat and global issues require global solutions. It's through massive fund-raising efforts by organizations like WaterAid that we can hope to eventually make this crisis a thing of the past.
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WaterAid/ Behailu Shiferaw
Who is WaterAid?
WaterAid's story begins in 1981, when "The Thirsty Third World Conference" brought together members of the UK water industry. They decided that it was time to unite forces and help reach the millions of people that are living without clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene. WaterAid was officially established shortly after and began their first projects in Zambia and Sri Lanka.

The Canadian branch was founded in 1987 by Micheal Lubbock under the name WaterCan (later changed to WaterAid Canada). Over the next 30 years, WaterAid expanded to include teams in 35 countries.
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WaterAid/ Tom Greenwood
The Results
Globally, WaterAid has teams in 35 countries, battling tirelessly against the water crisis. WaterAid Canada directly manages projects in:

  • Tanzania
  • Ghana
  • Mali
  • Madagascar
  • India
As of 2017, WaterAid has helped provide 25.8 million people with clean water, 25.1 million with decent toilets, and 16.7 million with good hygiene. 11
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WaterAid/ Mani Karmacharya
Keyway's Contribution
The Keyway team has decided to make our mark. We believe strongly in this cause and we are confident in the vision that drives WaterAid to change the world.
Keyway has decided to pledge
5% of Profits
to help WaterAid with their mission.
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WaterAid/ Ernest Randriarimalala
Learn More
If you would like to learn more about WaterAid, the water crisis, or to make an independant donation, please visit:
www.WaterAid.org/ca


Information and Statistics:
  1. Prüss-Üstün A., Bos, R., Gore, F. & Bartram, J. 2008. Safer water, better health: costs, benefits and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health. World Health Organization, Geneva.
  2. World Health Organization and UNICEF. Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: 2012 Update. United States: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation; 2012.
  3. U.S. Census Bureau. International Programs Center: Population Clocks.
  4. Liu L, Johnson HL, Cousens S, Perin J, Scott S, Lawn JE, Rudan I, Campbell H, Cibulskis R, Li M, Mathers C, Black RE; Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group of WHO and UNICEF. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis for 2010 with time trends since 2000. Lancet. 2012 Jun 9;379(9832):2151-61.
  5. Cutler D, Miller G. 2004. The role of public health improvements in health advances: the 20th century United States. National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 10511. Cambridge, MA, USA.
  6. Hutton G, Haller L , Bartram J. 2007. Global cost-benefit analysis of water supply and sanitation interventions. J Water Health 2007:5.4;481-502.
  7. United Nations Millennium Project. Health, Dignity, and Development: What Will it Take?
  8. The United Nations. Millennium Development Goals Report 2007.
  9. UNICEF and IRC. Water Sanitation and Hygiene Education for Schools: Roundtable Proceedings and Framework for Action.
  10. WASHWatch https://washwatch.org/en/donors/
  11. WaterAid UK https://www.wateraid.org/uk/facts-and-statistics
  12. World Health Organization, Joint Monitoring Programme 2017 update and SDG baselines.