Robina, 9, left and her friend Charity, 12, fetch water together in Nmamyumba, Wakiso. Water is essential for survival but for many girls in Uganda, it represents a huge burden that not only keeps them from school, but risks their lives and futures.
World Water Day 2024
On World Water Day, we recognize the critical role clean water plays in the health and safety of children around the world. When the breakdown of water and sanitation occurs, as a result of conflict, natural disaster or poverty, children are at risk.
When is World Water Day and when did it start?
World Water Day is March 22, 2024. World Water Day was started in 1993 by the United Nations.
Why is access to clean water important?
Access to clean water is important be it saves lives and helps keep children healthy. Children who lack access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation are susceptible to waterborne illnesses, including malaria and cholera. Diarrhea, a leading causes of death for children under 5, can be considerably reduced through access to clean water.
Access to clean water and sanitation has been essential preventing against the spread of COVID-19. Since the start of the pandemic, Save the Children has been working to provide basic access to hygiene supplies, like soap and water.
Globally, Save the Children has provided 762,000 families with access to safe water.
Make a Donation on World Water Day
Donate to help provide clean water to children around the world.
$20 - A Clean Water Kit
can provide soap, a bucket and water-purifying aqua tabs for a displaced family.
$50 - Clean Water Fund
can help provide clean, safe water from dug and drilled wells.
$150 - Water Pump
can provide a manual water pumps for farmers to water their income-producing and food-generating crops.
$1,000 - Share of a Water Truck
can improve the health and hygiene of school children with a school water point.
Our Work to Provide Clean Water for Kids, Families and Communities
Thanks to our donors, Save the Children works to reach vulnerable children through programs that focus on health and nutrition, food security and livelihoods, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection and education.
And as one of Save the Children's longest-standing partners, P&G has brought the power of its well-known brands to improve life for children around the world. Through the P&G Children's Safe Drinking Water Program, Save the Children is distributing water purification materials in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan. In places where drought and flooding, exacerbated by conflict, and the deadly threat of waterborne diseases are jeopardizing the lives of children every day, access to clean water can save lives.
The Weight of Water
Save the Children is working to help communities protect young girls like Robina, who says, “The hardest part about being a girl is going to the well to get water.” Young girls like Robina, age 9, can spend as many as six hours a day fetching water, and they are easy prey when they travel alone – at risk of assault, trafficking and even murder.
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