WaterAid Corporate Engagement Package Overview

Working in the water sector, we are sure you know that the international community has agreed to work towards achieving the goal to ‘make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere by 2030’, under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) global initiative.

We are pleased to acknowledge that there have been some amazing developments in the last few years, with people getting access to clean water, thousands learning the importance of handwashing or towns/villages being declared open defecation free. However, the sad truth is that, even if we stay on this path, we are still off target to hit this goal by 2030. To throw some facts and figures at you, 785 million people worldwide still do not have clean water close to home and 2 billion people still lack a decent toilet. At current rates of progress, everyone in least developed countries won’t have safely managed water until 2131 – over 100 years behind schedule.

How can you join?

Check off as many goals as possible! The SDGs are the blueprint for a better future. They represent a compelling agenda for a sustainable and prosperous future for both people and planet. They are also a platform for water utilities, governments, regulators and the community to talk about current and future priorities. SDG 6 ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’ is the backbone for the water sector, but there are so many more that can be achieved by our industry!

WaterAid is an international not-for-profit, determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere by 2030. Since its inception WaterAid has internationally reached over 27 million people with clean water and 26.5 million people with decent toilets. Water New Zealand partners with WaterAid not only to achieve Goal 6 but also to support Good Health, Education, Gender Equality, Innovation, Reduction of Inequalities and Partnerships, which all make part of the SDGs Agenda for 2030.

WaterAid and Water New Zealand have decided to team up with the aim of encouraging Water New Zealand members to collaborate with WaterAid. Together we strongly believe that the 2030 goals can still be achieved. With the finishing line right around the corner, it’s time to dig deep for that final push! And we have to do it TOGETHER!

We have created a bundled proposal which includes all the ways you can partner with WaterAid. Not only can you become a member of WaterAid and join a network of 36 water utilities and companies, but you can also sponsor WaterAid annual events or partake in the Winnovators program, Walk for Water, the Water Challenge and World Toilet Day. You can also encourage your staff to sign up for WaterAid workplace giving programme, making a donation through payroll. Or run a bill insert campaign asking your customers to support WaterAid.

It can even be something as simple as switching your office toilet paper provider to ‘Who Gives a Crap’, a social enterprise that supports WaterAid by donating a large part of their revenues.

We sincerely hope you will decide to get on board with WaterAid! If interested, please get in touch with Michael McLennan, WaterAid Corporate Partnership Manager, at michael.mclennan@wateraid.org.au or +61 0421 953 896. He will answer any further questions you might have and assist you in creating the best package to suit your needs. Let’s keep working together to finish the job the water sector intended when it conceived WaterAid: make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene a normal part of everyday life for EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE!

Yours truthfully,

John Pfalhert, CEO, Water New Zealand

Rosie Wheen, CEO, WaterAid