Water is essential for both life and livelihoods and plays a crucial role in combating poverty and environmental degradation.
Despite this, one third of the world’s population face water shortages, a figure that is expected to rise to two thirds by 2025.
Progressio’s water focus stems from our long-standing work with partner organisations on small-scale farming. This means that our advocacy work primarily focuses on the water needed for poor people to sustain a livelihood through farming, including management and governance issues.
Water is life
We believe that poor and marginalised people must have more of a say in water management so they can get fair and sustainable access to the water they need for their livelihoods.
Our development workers are supporting partner organisations to make this a reality on the ground - such as through our 'Food for a better future' project in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As farmers in Haiti repeatedly tell us (in Creole): 'Dlo se lavi' - water is life.
Waterproofing development
Our policy and advocacy work aims to bring the voices of these people and communities to the policy table. And we back this up by trying to change minds and lives through our 'Waterproof' campaign.
- watch our short animated film on 'waterproofing development'
- read our essential guide to water and development
- read our policy brief A 'Waterproofed' Rio+20 calling for stronger recognition of the need for sustainable and equitable access to water - and find out what we thought of the Rio+20 conference position on water
- read our policy brief on Waterproofing agriculture for smallholder farmers
- read our policy brief calling for A waterproofed post-2015 development framework
- see what Catholic social teaching can tell us about people's rights to water
- find out about the successes of our Waterproof campaign so far.
Water and climate change
Water resources are expected to be particularly affected by climate change. Many poor people around the world are already suffering from unreliable or inaccessible water resources and climate change will make this worse.
Read more about water and climate change
Progressio works with partners and other organisations to raise awareness of water issues at the climate change negotiations and other relevant forums, including the particular impact on women. We also work to identify and advocate for sustainable solutions.
Read more about our climate change policy work
Virtual water and poverty
Virtual water refers to the full amount of water that is needed to produce something, including water that isn’t necessarily visible in the final product – hence the term ‘virtual’. There is an urgent need for the world to better understand the true impact of virtual water and water footprints, including the impact on the poorest and most vulnerable communities.
Read more about virtual water and poverty
And why not take a look at some of our blogs about water?
