August 15, 2012
WaterAid receives major grant for Nigeria from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
A girl washes her hands after visiting a new school restroom in Nigeria.
WaterAid / Suzanne Porter
New York, New York –
WaterAid has received a grant of
up to $6.3 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that
aims to enhance the lives of thousands of poor people in Nigeria through
improvements to sanitation.Across the globe, 2,000 children die
every day from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water and poor
sanitation. In sub-Saharan Africa, 223 million people have no toilet at
all, while 193 million do not have adequate sanitary facilities.
Nigeria, the country with the largest population in Africa, is no
exception: 103 million people have to defecate in the open or have an
“unimproved” or shared latrine.
The Gates Foundation has once again invested in improving the lives of millions of the world’s poorest people.
- David Winder, CEO, WaterAid, America
In addition to the devastating
loss of life and impact on health, the costs associated with illness
caused by poor sanitation exact a heavy toll on countries’ economic
growth. Lack of water, sanitation and hygiene costs Sub-Saharan African
countries more in lost GDP than the entire continent gets in
development aid.
Over the course of four years, the project
supported by the Gates Foundation will improve sanitation in local
government areas across three states of Nigeria, bringing about open
defecation-free (ODF) status in numerous communities, and bringing
affordable and sustainable sanitation services to thousands of people.
The
project will build on WaterAid’s years of experience of applying and
adapting the community-led total sanitation (CLTS) approach in Nigeria.
CLTS is an innovative methodology for mobilizing communities to
completely eliminate open defecation.
“The Gates Foundation has
once again invested in improving the lives of millions of the world’s
poorest people. We are thrilled that they have decided to support our
work in Nigeria,” said Dr. David Winder, CEO of WaterAid in America.
WaterAid
has worked in
Nigeria since 1995, assisting with addressing the huge
need for water and sanitation. WaterAid works in seven local areas, in
partnership with established non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
state and local governments, according to each area's needs.
For further information or interviews, please contact: Susannah Gold, WaterAid, on + 1 917 207 5375 or
sgold@wateraidamerica.org