Global Waters, March 2013

This month, we celebrate World Water Day and its theme of cooperation.  It will be a great opportunity to reaffirm our work to save lives, feed hungry families, and reach out in new ways to improve lives around the world.

In honor of World Water Day, we bring you heartwarming snapshots of committed individuals working together in every corner of the globe. We take a look at some of the collaborative work being done by USAID with those most in need.  Last April, USAID joined the Sanitation and Water For All Partnership, which brings together developing countries with donors, multi-lateral agencies, and civil society to work to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation in the most at-risk countries. We strongly believe initiatives that bring together a wide swath of stakeholders hold the key to a better future.

That is why it is so inspiring to learn that more and more people and organizations are stepping up to ensure a water-secure future. Our Real Impact story this issue looks at innovative financing of water projects, from microfinance to public-private partnerships. With corporations like The Coca-Cola Company teaming up with USAID to help communities build their own latrines, commercial banks and utilities financing household water connections, and impoverished villagers pooling their savings to collectively upgrade their water infrastructure, one thing is clear: More and more people are coming to the important realization that a safer, healthier future is a truly worthwhile investment.

Governments, too, are doing more to ensure the water security of their citizens. The Middle East is the most water-scarce region in the world, and climate events and declining water resources pose some of the biggest threats to its future. We look at cutting-edge new collaborations with USAID that promote improved water governance in this part of the world.

From developing high-tech information models that enhance government decision-making to empowering associations of small-scale farmers to better manage their water resources, these initiatives are changing the ways that water is governed.

We hope you enjoy this issue.  Happy World Water Day!

The Water Office

waterteam@usaid.gov