February 14, 2012
WaterAid sees a mixed bag In President Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget for foreign aid: urges Congress to pass Water For The World Act of 2012

We commend the White House for preserving its focus on the essential programs undertaken by USAID and the Department of State, which, all told, require less than 1% of the total federal budget.
- David Winder, CEO, WaterAid, America 

“We commend the White House for preserving its focus on the essential programs undertaken by USAID and the Department of State, which, all told, require less than 1% of the total federal budget. These agencies are essential to US moral leadership, diplomacy, and national security,” David Winder, CEO of WaterAid in America.

“The requested increase to development assistance is essential for enabling USAID to enhance its work on food security and nutrition, which depends upon safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, and effective and sustainable use of water resources for its success,“ noted Lisa Schechtman, Head of Policy and Advocacy for WaterAid in America.

“By increasing the requested contribution to development assistance in Africa, the Administration has taken steps toward needed improvements in pro-poor targeting of resources for water, sanitation and hygiene. However, these increases cannot be done at the expense of disaster response, global health and other areas of foreign aid,” Schechtman added.

Water is an issue that many in Congress are discussing of late, Democrats and Republicans. Just last week, Congressman Howard L. Berman from California, the Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee underlined the importance of access to water in a press statement calling for Congress to pass bipartisan legislation known as the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act 2012.

In the statement, Congressman Berman said, “a new report released by the intelligence agencies finds that water shortages, poor water quality, and floods will have a much broader impact. During the next 10 years, water problems are likely to increase regional tensions, contribute to instability and state failure in many key countries and hinder states’ ability to produce food and generate energy.”

“As Congress takes up the President’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget request, we urge them to protect the President’s request for USAID and the State Department and pass the Water for the World Act, which will make existing investments go farther,” Schechtman said.

WaterAid has added its voice to an open letter urging Congress to act with more than 50 leading organizations calling for support from both  and Senate versions of the legislation.

Download the letters here:

Organizational Sign-on HR3658 (PDF 1.2MB)

A few salient facts about water and sanitation that show the depth of the problem, three statistics in particular:
• Nearly 900 million people have no access to clean water
• 2.6 billion people live without access to adequate sanitation
• 4,000 children die every day from water-related diseases