Executive Summary
Today, 780 million people have no safe water source within 30 minutes of home. Two billion lack even a basic toilet. The women and girls who spend their days collecting water have little time for work or school. And contaminated water can be a death sentence: water-borne diseases kill more people than malaria, measles, and HIV/AIDS combined. Many people living in poverty want to invest in solving this problem, but they lack adequate savings and cannot get an affordable loan.
Water.org changes that. We work with local financial institutions and other partners to provide microloans that fund access to water and sanitation systems. Thirty-six million people have gained access through these loans, setting in motion a virtuous cycle of improved health, economic opportunity, and gender equity. Though more than half the people we serve live on less than $3 a day, 99 percent repay their loans. This is a sustainable—and significantly scalable—solution.
Charity, fund, non-governmental organization, religious institution, school, or other entity
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Accomplishments
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Water.org has continued to reach people living at the base of the economic pyramid with improved water and sanitation solutions that meet their households' needs. While our impact was severely affected in 2020, we have rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels of effectiveness. In fact, in Bangladesh and Brazil, we are providing improved water and sanitation solutions to more people than ever because of our continued efforts with implementing partners.
