About us

WaterAid is an international charity dedicated to helping people escape the stranglehold of poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation.

Vision and mission

Credit: WaterAid / Abir Abdullah

Vision

WaterAid's vision is of a world where everyone has access to safe water and effective sanitation.

Mission

WaterAid is an international non governmental organisation dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world's poorest people.

These most basic services are essential to life; without them vulnerable communities are trapped in the stranglehold of disease and poverty. We work by helping local organisations set up low cost, sustainable projects using appropriate technology that can be managed by the community itself.

We also seek to influence the policies of other key organisations, such as governments, to secure and protect the right of poor people to safe, affordable water and sanitation services.

We are independent and rely heavily on voluntary support. Please donate if you can.

Strategy 2005-2010

Credit: Brent Stirton

In this, our third strategy which runs from 2005 to 2010, we set out our ambitious plans to make a significant contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These targets, agreed by all governments, aim to tackle world poverty through actions including halving the proportion of people without access to safe water and sanitation by 2015.

The strategy's five-year timeframe coincides with the first half of the UN International Decade for Action on Water, called 'Water for life'.

This gives us an unprecedented opportunity to lobby for water, sanitation and hygiene for all in an international arena, giving more of the world's poorest people the chance of a better future.

Guiding beliefs and values

Strategic goals 2005-2010

Provision of water, sanitation and hygiene

Managing growth and change

Download the full WaterAid 2005-2010 Strategy document ( PDF 500K)