Introduction
Do you remember this scene from the movie “Mad Max: Fury Road?”
It depicts a world where Earth that become an arid desert due to a catastrophic nuclear war. And conflict arises when people compete for scarce resources like water and food.
Unfortunately, for many people living in water-stressed areas, this portrayal is not far from their daily reality. Water-stressed countries are facing major challenges related to the depletion of water resources.
(Source: NBC News)
One problem is that some countries are building dams on rivers shared with neighboring countries in order to monopolize water.
This often leads to tensions and conflict, as deprived citizens in neighboring countries feel robbed of their rightful share of water.
What are some of the hardships that result from a lack of access to clean water? And what are the steps to solving this problem?
Life without access to clean water & people in crisis
What is clean water?
It refers to uncontaminated water that is free of harmful microorganisms and therefore does not cause diseases when you drink it, promoting good health.
What happens when you don’t have access to clean water?
- 771 million worldwide drink unsafe water.
- Women and girls spend 226 million hours every day to fetch water.
- One child diesevery two minutes from a waterborne disease.
- Access to clean water costs $260 billion in labor and other cost.
Steps to providing clean water for all
- Ensure sufficient drinking water: Save water by reducing excessive water usage.
- Prevent water pollution: Institutional and governmental efforts are needed to build sewage treatment facilities and for proper treatment of wastewater.
- Shared water management with neighboring countries: International cooperation is needed to equitably distribute water resources according to scarcity.
Learn more about the importance of clean water
[Education Package: Learn & Act] Clean Water and Sanitation
Now let’s meet Matt Damon, a global citizen who has contributed to clean water access by providing a variety of solutions to water-stressed countries.
Matt Damon, a Global Citizen
<Biography>
- 2009 Co-founded Water.org
- 2011 TIME 100 Most Influential People
- 2013 Environmental Media Awards
- 2014 World Economic Forum Crystal Award winner
This month’s global citizen is top Hollywood actor Matt Damon. Matt is well-known as the co-founder of an international organization Water.org.
Water.org provides microfinance loans to poor people in third world countries to help install water infrastructure.
What motivated Damon to take part in this work?
When he was just starting to make a name for himself in the film industry in his thirties, Matt participated in a program that took him to some of the world’s poorest countries.
He witnessed a girl walking 8 kilometers to fetch water. And she was 11 years old, the same age as his own daughter. It took him by shock that this girl was carrying water for her family while his daughter was in school.
When he was just starting to make a name for himself in the film industry in his thirties, Matt participated in a program that took him to some of the world’s poorest countries.
He witnessed a girl walking 8 kilometers to fetch water. And she was 11 years old, the same age as his own daughter. It took him by shock that this girl was carrying water for her family while his daughter was in school.
Why did these girls fetch water instead of going to school?
<Source: Water.org>
On average, a family living in a water-scarce country needs $330 for adequate water infrastructure. This is equal to about three months’ worth of an average family’s income.
In 2009, Damon co-founded with water NGO expert Gary White the Water.org, which provides microloans to people who don’t have access to water at home because they don’t have a tap.
The loans provided individuals with the means to install essential equipment such as taps. It allowed families to carry out everyday tasks like laundry, dishwashing, and personal hygiene in their own homes.
Most importantly, this enabled them to use their time more productively by attending school or seeking employment opportunities. With a 99% loan repayment rate, borrowers were able to save and successfully pay back the money they had borrowed.
Matt Damon and Water.org changes 50 million lives
Water.org, founded by Damon, has brought safe and clean water to 52 million people across 11 countries, improving their access to basic necessities and boosting their life expectancy.
This increased longevity has afforded individuals more time to engage in productive pursuits. In recognition of its impactful work, Water.org was recently awarded Charity Navigator’s highest rating of 4 stars.
Matt Damon’s story highlights the unfairness in the distribution of basic resources like water across different countries. The fact that some individuals have to spend a disproportionate amount of time and effort to access something as fundamental as water underscores the inequities that exist in our world.
“Clean water is only as far away as the nearest tap, and there are taps everywhere. There’s a faucet everywhere. But the reality is, the water in our toilets is cleaner than the water that most people are drinking.”
Matt Damon
