World Vision, which is a leader in Global relief and development, has announced its project that would focus on improving sanitation facilities for women, girls and their communities. As safe water is essential for their physical and mental well-being, the present project would aim at providing the same to girls and women, across 10 African countries, thereby having an impact on almost 6.6million people. The project will be conducted for six years, and will cost $200 million; moreover, it will be a part of 2011 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization that has been working in the field of sanitation and water, and has been successful in completing five-year West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI) in Ghana, Mali and Niger.
Richard Stearns, who is the President of World Vision United States, while attending this week’s CGI Annual Meeting in New York City, said “We have seen just how critical access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is for women and girls—not only to their daily health and personal safety, but also to enable them to invest in their education and future,
World Vision is an expert in the field of issues that affect women in developing countries. With the present project, it expects to improve the health of children and their mothers. It also expects to have a positive impact on the livelihood, savings, and the school attendance of girls.
Rudo Kwaramba, who is the national director of World Vision in Uganda, said “World Vision understands that for sustainable change, we must combine the essential ‘software’ ingredients of community engagement and behavior change with the ‘hardware’ of borehole wells, catchment systems and other intervention. And in all of this, women’s ownership and full participation is essential so they are empowered to invest further in the health, education, and well-being of their families and communities.”
At present, almost 13 million people are affected by severe draught in Horn of Africa; thus, this initiative by World Vision could not have come at a better time. The agency is committed to CGI, and is thus taking a quick initiative to meet the water needs in Africa, especially in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda and Somalia. In future, World Vision is also planning to start projects to improve sanitation facilities in those areas that would help protect and preserve the livelihood of people, in order to reduce the impact of the severe draught that is affecting many countries in Africa.
