Clean Water - The Basic Human Right That 663 Million People Don’t Have

What was the first thing you did when you woke up this morning? Most likely you used water. Now try to imagine life without water - for most people reading this it’s difficult however for 663 million people, life without clean water is their daily situation - it’s normal. In some places it’s normal to walk over 4 hours a day to get water, most of the time collected by women, which means time taken away from the classroom, earning an income or having fun.

Sadly, in most cases the water collected is dirty and filled with diseases like dysentery, cholera and typhoid. In fact water diseases kill more people every year than all forms of violence - including war. 800 children die every day from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.

The crazy thing is that the water crisis is solvable, our planet has water, we just need to help people get it and when we do, it brings all kinds of changes: improves health, gives children more time in school and empowers women. Clean water is a necessity for education and job creation, the two biggest factors in boosting economies. So the sooner we solve the water crisis, the sooner we can help developing countries make progress and advance our world. Every $1 invested in water and sanitation provides a $4 economic return thanks to the time saved and deaths avoided, according to the World Health Organization.

Although it’s easy to feel like you, as an individual, can’t make a difference over such a widespread humanitarian crisis, you can help today by giving to impactful organizations on the ground. At BU we’ve chosen to partner with charity: water who have funded 19,000 water projects helping change the lives of over 1 million people.