Advocacy Activity: Water for the World Act World Water Day (March 22) is an international day that focuses the world’s attention and advocacy on clean water. You can join in the action by supporting “Hill Day” on March 20, 2013, a day of advocacy on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. This event is designed to bring supporters and advocates for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) into meetings with key members of Congress and then to encourage them to support the Water for the World Act. The Water for the World Act seeks to provide safe drinking water, as well as sanitation and hygiene, for millions of people. It improves upon the Water for the Poor Act (2005) and makes the way that we provide aid for water and WASH projects more efficient. The Water for the World Act is currently in need of bipartisan co-sponsorship. Learn more about the Act. YOU can call Congress to act on this important issue, along with other concerned citizens, like the WASH Advocates. Here’s an Advocacy Action Plan: 1. Get together with friends and write letters to your Senator or Representative. You can mail or email them to WASH Advocates or to your elected official. Check out our template for inspiration! 2. Host a Walk4Wells event in your community. Learn more at walk4wells.org! 3. Spread the word by tweeting (#WorldWaterDay), blogging, and posting about World Water Day. Check out this Advocacy Guide for ideas! 4. Contact the WASH Advocates to get involved in more important advocacy initiatives.
What’s WASH? The acronym “WASH” stands for water, sanitation and hygiene. These basic necessities of life are not available to many people in developing countries all around the world. In fact, more than 780 million people (1 in 9) do not have access to clean, safe drinking water and 2.5 billion people (2 in 5) do not have access to adequate sanitation (like a bathroom). When there is no running water, the burden of collecting water mostly falls on women and children. On average, women and children walk 4 miles every day to find water, carrying containers weighing up to 40lbs on their heads and backs. Plus, the water they find is often unsafe to drink, and makes them sick. At any given time, 50% of the world’s hospital beds are filled with people suffering from diseases that they got from dirty water—diseases that are preventable. Children under five years old are the most vulnerable and 1.5 million die every year from diarrhea, which is more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB combined! Access to WASH is a simple solution to these complex problems. That’s why it’s important that you take action as a concered citizen in any way that you can. Thank you for sharing water with the world!
Youth Engagement and Action at Plan International USA • 155 Plan Way, Warwick RI 02886 • planusa.org/youth • yuga@planusa.org
* Send your letter to WASH Advocates at 1506 21st NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036 by March 18, 2013 to have the biggest impact on “Hill Day”!
Dear Representative/Senator, I am writing to you as a concerned citizen to ask for your support of the Water for the World Act. I strongly encourage you to support this legislation, as well as any other programs that improve access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in the developing world. These programs provide lowcost, lifesaving services to the people who need them most. The Water for the World Act seeks to provide safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene for millions of people, largely by building upon the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 and improving the efficiency of U.S. foreign assistance programs to improve access to WASH. The Water for the World Act is currently in need of a bipartisan team of members to serve as original cosponsors of the bill, which will be reintroduced in the coming weeks. Federal WASH programming under the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 has improved millions of lives. In fact, during fiscal years 2009 and 2010, USAID provided improved access to drinking water to 9.2 million people, and access to sanitation facilities to 6.3 million people. Recognizing the lifesaving impact of these programs, Congress has repeatedly increased funding under the Water for the Poor Act from its original amount of $100 million to its current funding level of $315 million per year. In addition, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY13 State & Foreign Operations bill recommended $85 million in additional funding, for a total of $400 million. WASH programs also support numerous other development objectives, including health, education, food security/nutrition, and economic development. Additionally, a recent National Intelligence Estimate demonstrates the clear linkage between water scarcity and global security threats. Further, the American public supports WASH programs; recent polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the UN Foundation found that water and sanitation is the top development assistance priority for American voters. Almost 800 million people still lack access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. Supporting federal WASH programs—including $400 million in funding under the Water for the Poor Act in FY14—would help the U.S. government meet this challenge by ensuring that USAID has the resources it needs to reach impoverished communities around the globe. We all need safe drinking water and a place to use the bathroom. I know you are responsible for making many decisions while you are in office. Please remember how important water and sanitation are around the world. Thank you very much for your consideration. Sincerely,
* In addition to your name, don’t forget to include your city and state, as well as your age!