Sustainability Development Goals (SDG
How Just a Drop contributes to the 17 Sustainability Development Goals.
SDG 1) To end poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030
With clean water, communities can begin to lift themselves out of poverty and build brighter futures. Access to clean water means that people no longer have to spend money on medicines to treat diseases and illnesses caused by drinking dirty water, or on repairing damaged and unsuitable water systems. With access to clean water, women and children no longer have to walk long distances during arduous and dangerous journeys to collect dirty water from the nearest water source. Instead, children can spend more time in school getting an education and increasing their future prospects, and women can spend time working to generate an income.
SDG 2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Our projects provide a sustainable source of water all year round. Alongside water solutions such as sand dams, which provide enough water for communities to irrigate crops, we provide sustainable climate-smart agricultural training in terracing, mixed cropping, cover crops, zero grazing, tree planting and seed banks. Just a Drop projects create a consistent source of clear water, agricultural opportunities and economic opportunity. Additionally, 50% of malnutrition is attributable to repeated episodes of diarrhoea which is caused by dirty water. Clean water is a foundational element when tackling global hunger.
SDG 3) Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Just a Drop provides facilities such as water pumps, gender-sensitive latrines, WASH training announcement horns and storing units to enable best practices of hygiene. Safe water and sanitation together with hygiene practices such as handwashing reduce infant mortality and water-related diseases. Our private latrines promote well-being among girls and women, as do our menstrual hygiene programmes. The spread of diarrhoeal diseases is curtailed through sanitation and hygiene provisions. Diarrhoeal diseases are the second biggest single killer of children under five.
SGD 4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Thousands of children no longer have to walk long distances to collect water due to Just a Drop putting water pumps directly in schools; resulting in children spending more time in school and are better able to concentrate on their studies as they are properly hydrated. Girls are often deterred from attending school because of safe places to manage menstrual hygiene. Just a Drop works with schools on menstrual hygiene programmes and to build gender-sensitive sanitation facilities thereby tacking the high levels of unattendance from girls past the age of 12.
SDG5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Just a Drop’s work aims to reduce the burden many women and girls face of collecting water from distant sources by providing access to safe water close to their homes. By providing menstrual hygiene facilities schoolgirls attendance is unhindered, paving the way for a brighter future. In all of our clean water, sanitation and hygiene projects, we promote equality and empowerment of girls and women by ensuring they have a voice throughout a project's decision-making process. Women and girls are equal members of school health clubs, water user committees, and community monitoring teams formed to operate, maintain and monitor the water and sanitation services Just a Drop provides.
SDG 8) Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
Clean water, sanitation and hygiene frees up time lost due to illness or walking to collect water. Children spend more time in school, and adults have more time to spend on income-generating activities. A stable source of water in the community, food security increases, as families can grow crops and sell the excess, leading to economic growth. We teach useful skills such as bookkeeping, governance, and climate-smart agricultural practices. These skills can increase earning potential and employability. In Uganda, we are piloting income-generating loans, which enable people to set up or develop small businesses. In Kenya, we work with communities to provide sustainable agriculture training and food security programmes alongside water solutions.
SDG 10) Reduce inequality within and among countries
Across our projects, we work with water user committees, self-help groups, community monitoring teams and health clubs, all of which have strict inclusion policies. The projects are community-owned and led, ensuring everyone has a voice and is involved with the project from the outset - from designing the concept of the project to village mapping, taking part in construction where possible, and WASH training. In Ugandan schools, we install toilets for disabled access. In India, we provide separate latrine blocks for scheduled castes, who are excluded from mainstream WASH facilities.
SDG 12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Less than 3% of the world’s water is fresh, and therefore drinkable. With 2.5% frozen in Antarctica, the Arctic and glaciers, the remaining 0.5% cover all of the world's freshwater needs. Unfortunately, humans are polluting water faster than nature can recycle and purify water in rivers and lakes. With 884 million people lacking access to clean safe water, water conservation and proper utilisation are critical to universal access to clean water. In Kenya, rains fall so quickly and in such a short space of time that most of the water runs off the land - rather than sinking into the ground and stored in the aquifer below. Our rainwater harvesting solutions in Kenya catch and store rainfall, providing a sustainable source of clean water for communities.
SDG 13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Water, sanitation and hygiene solutions can support greater resilience to climate change by strengthening water security in times of scarcity.
Water solutions designed to counter the impacts of climate change, coupled with education, can prepare communities and raise awareness of the impacts of climate change. Just a Drop’s rainwater harvesting projects store and conserve water, which provides a buffer in times of water scarcity or drought caused by climate change. Just a Drop projects in Kenya strengthen food security, and in Cambodia are designed so that the latrines and wells are elevated to protect them in times of flooding.
SDG 15) Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.
The unpredictability of rainfall in many parts of the world affects water availability. This results in devastating effects on land and soil as communities strive to extract water and continue farming methods that contribute to soil erosion and desertification. The areas Just a Drop works in are often prone to severe drought, flooding and soil erosion. Alongside our water security projects in Kenya, we provide sustainable climate-smart agriculture training in terracing to prevent soil erosion, mixed cropping, cover crops, zero grazing, tree planting and seed banks. Water solutions in Kenya such as sand dams are designed to build aquifers and not deplete them as drilled wells would.
SDG 17) Partnerships for the Goals: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Our work doesn’t happen in a vaccuum. Across our projects, we would not be able to provide safe and reliable water without the tireless work of our local partners. But collaboration doesn’t stop with our local partners. We know that Just a Drop alone can only help so many people, and whilst there are still millions around the world suffering without safe and reliable water, charities, governments and NGOs have to work together to achieve the best results to maximum effect. That’s why we’re so excited about our involvement in Water Can, a collaboration between six water charities working together to bring safe water to as many people as possible. Through global collaboration, we can create the brighter, safer and sustainable world where everyone can thrive.
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