WASHINGTON, DC — As millions of people came together to celebrate World Water Day, on March 22, PSI joined a coalition of leading health organizations to raise awareness about the lack of clean drinking water in developing countries.
International World Water Day (WWD) is held annually to help advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. This year’s theme was “Shared Water—Shared Opportunities,” which focused on transboundary water management to promote security and sustainable economic growth among countries.
Initially, PSI Child Survival team’s sole partner in WWD discussions was Procter & Gamble. Together they began brainstorming. “We had four main goals in mind and began bringing partners to the table,” said Ashima Khanna, senior program assistant for Child Survival. Those goals were: To raise awareness about the lack of safe water and proper sanitation; to elicit action around key legislation; to encourage an increase in foreign assistance funding; and urge action by the general public in the form of individual advocacy, fundraising and other personal commitments.
The campaign gained momentum quickly, building a coalition that included: Earth Day’s Global Water Network, Save the Children, Global Health Council, PNG, American Chemistry Council, Water Advocates, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Global Water Challenge, Center for Strategic and International Studies and PSI.
Several partners from coalition also joined with GOOD Magazine to develop an edgy series of viral videos aimed at rallying support for the global problems associated with access to clean drinking water. The videos weave the prevalence of diarrhea and unclean water into iconic moments in film and television.
At the same time, PSI’s government affairs advocate Jennie Quick and other partners took the lead in scheduling several events on Capitol Hill.
On March 25, PSI will host an event, “Let Clean Waters Flow: U.S. Leadership and Innovation in Addressing the Global Water Crisis.” Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) will be in attendance, and PSI/Haiti’s Deputy Country Representative Anick Supplice will be among the briefing’s featured speakers. On March 31, PSI’s HIV Director Krishna Jafa will speak at a Bipartisan Congressional Water Caucus event about the recent cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. The event, “Water: A Strategic ‘Smart Power’ Tool,” is sponsored by PSI and CSIS, and will feature Dr. Greg Allgood, director of P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, as one of the prominent speakers.
P&G’s Shannon Penberthy, an founding coalition member, said the groups’ effort is “a tremendous opportunity for P&G to partner with other organizations, capitalize on each other’s strengths and together achieve a shared goal of increasing awareness about affordable solutions for addressing the lack of safe drinking water in the developing world.”
On WWD, we celebrate the importance of clean drinking water, but without collaborative partnerships like this, water will continue to go unnoticed on the global stage. This seemingly complex issue has relatively simple, cost-effective solutions; yet, it lacks global leadership. Until more partnerships are forged around lunch tables everywhere, responsibility will trickle upstream.
