Severn Trent has joined forces with WaterAid UK to help transform the lives of thousands of people living in southwest Bangladesh, through a series of projects that will deliver clean water and basic sanitation.
The Midlands based water company, in partnership with its chosen charity WaterAid, has set out to raise £560,000 over five years, which will provide 100,000 people with clean water, decent toilets and improved levels of hygiene.
Forming part of WaterAid’s Climate Resilience programme – an initiative designed to protect communities from the threat of climate change and disasters, a large focus is on improving the lives of women in developing countries and empowering them.
One of the projects includes plans to train up to 80 women so they have the skills to operate and maintain a water treatment plant in southwest Bangladesh, which will help improve the availability of clean water in the region and allow them to become self-sufficient in the future.
The women will also be supported to become entrepreneurs as part of the same project, by giving them the skills to unlock their potential with improved access to clean water. It’s hoped that these opportunities will give them an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure.
Severn Trent CEO Liv Garfield, said:
“We believe clean water and good hygiene should be readily available to everyone everywhere; today and for future generations.
“It’s hard to believe we still live in a world where people don’t have these most basic human rights – something we absolutely take for granted here in the UK. That’s why we’re proud to work with WaterAid on a partnership campaign that’ll help transform the lives of entire communities, particularly women, in southwest Bangladesh.”
Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive of WaterAid said:
“Not only are women and girls disproportionately affected by lack of access to clean water and sanitation but they are also often excluded from involvement in helping to deliver solutions to these challenges. This is why WaterAid is excited to be working on this new project in Bangladesh with Severn Trent. Through our work training women as entrepreneurs, whole communities will be given better access to clean water, giving them the opportunity to be healthy, self-sufficient and financially secure.”
