Millennium Development Goals

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, the largest gathering of world leaders in history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, all with a deadline of 2015, that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The environmental sustainability goal sets a specific target for access to water: to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water. However, we believe that water plays a key role in achieving most of the MDGs, either directly or by creating conditions or a foundation on which the other goals can realistically be accomplished.

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

When people are no longer spending their days collecting water, they have time to spend in more productive activities, such as working in paid job or helping to grow food for their families. People who are healthier are also more productive workers.

In addition, a reduction in diarrhea that comes from access to safe water and sanitation services means improved nutrition. Healthy people are better able to absorb nutrients in food than those suffering from water-related diseases.

Water, especially excess grey water from laundry and bathing, is often used to create small kitchen gardens, providing a source of nutritious fruits and vegetables which are often missing from the diets of poor people. Reliable water sources can be used to support household chickens, cattle and other livestock. Finally, Water 1st encourages the use of bio-gas and composting latrines in our projects, providing a natural and inexpensive fertilizer to support agricultural practices.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Young girls often help their mothers collect water, making them unable to attend schools. This problem is exacerbated when toilets are not available at schools, especially for girls who are menstruating. The resulting lack of education means that very few women in developing countries are leaders and decision-makers. In addition, many schools in communities that lack safe water and latrines are unable to retain qualified teachers, who do not want to live in communities without these basic facilities.

A water and sanitation project means that girls can go to school, and in time, these girls will gain more skills and become stronger with more prominent roles in society.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

The lack of clean water and sanitation has many impacts on women’s lives. Collecting water takes up valuable time and energy, leaving women unable to do household or income-generating work. The lack of water impacts on women’s ability to do housework or cooking, jobs that they are typically responsible for in the developing world. Illness adds to women’s workloads as they are also responsible for looking after sick children and adults. Young girls often help their mothers collect water, making them unable to attend schools. The resulting lack of education means that very few women in developing countries are leaders and decision-makers.

For women everywhere, providing clean, accessible water and sanitation facilities not only prevents needless drudgery and indignity but improves their health and that of the whole family. Water 1st therefore believes that it is important to involve women in every aspect of a water project and seek advice from them about key issues such as their knowledge about water sources, siting of the project, and hygiene issues faced by the community. Often women are involved in the water committee as members or hygiene promoters.

When a water project is completed, women’s time is then available for agriculture or other income-generating work, looking after children, or simply relaxing. It also enables their children, especially girls, to go to school. Having an important public role as a hygiene promoter or a water committee member enhances the women’s skills in the community, gives them more confidence, and ultimately makes them stronger and more respected community members. Women are empowered to devote their energies to activities that build a strong community.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

The number-one killer of children in the world is water-related disease. Even when children do survive, they too often do not thrive. Without safe water sources nearby, children pay the price–they are sick, malnourished and make daily treks to collect water at the expense of going to school or studying. Young children are often left alone or under the care of another young child by mothers who must leave their homes to walk long distances to collect water, or by mothers who are ill themselves.

Improved quantities and quality of drinking and domestic water and sanitation reduce main morbidity and mortality factor for young children. Improved nutrition also reduces children’s susceptibility to other diseases.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Pregnant women in developing countries receive no special treatment like they often do here in the U.S. During pregnancy, women in developing countries still make strenuous daily treks to collect water and do not have access to basic latrines, creating an unhealthy environment for mothers and their unborn children. Stories of falls and early on-set of labor during long walks for water are not uncommon. When the newborn arrives, women do not have clean water to wash the baby or themselves.

Access to clean water and latrines helps to create a healthier environment for pregnant women and newborns, reducing the likelihood of illness and death. Improved health and nutrition reduce the susceptibility to anemia and other common causes of maternal mortality.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

Access to clean water and latrines prevents the majority of illnesses in the world, including deadly diarrheal diseases. Better water management also reduces mosquito habitats and thus transmission risks of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.

Recent studies have shown that access to safe water and latrines supports HIV/AIDS affected households. Water-related illnesses can compromise the immune systems of HIV-infected individuals, increasing the likelihood for the onset of AIDS. Improved health and nutrition and increased incomes reduces susceptibility to HIV infection and the onset of AIDS as well as other major diseases.

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

The MDG target in this goal is to halve by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation. The daily work of Water 1st is directly related to this goal. Each dollar we raise and put towards sustainable water, sanitation and health projects in both rural villages and urban slums brings us closer to meeting this goal.

A central part of our projects is natural resource protection, to make sure that the projects we support will continue to bring safe water to our project beneficiaries into the future. The benefits of this component of our projects go beyond the water project itself. Our project beneficiaries learn the relationship between their water resources and the trees, soil, and their agricultural practices. They also learn ways that they can improve their environment and water management, including pollution control, reforestation activities, sustainable fuel projects, sustainable agriculture, and sustainable levels of water use. These are key factors in maintaining the integrity of ecosystems.

The approach we take in our projects relies heavily on community involvement. Community members are involved in every step of the planning, implementing and financing of their projects. A sound organizational structure in the community is created to support our projects through the formation of an elected, representative water committee. We have found that communities organized around water supply projects often take on other development projects in a community, and are better-placed to advocate for their needs, such as protecting and improving their natural environment.

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

All of our work is done in partnership with project participants and locally-based partner organizations. These organizations in turn work with local, regional and national governments and other organizations to implement projects with the goals of reducing poverty through provision of water supply and sanitation services.