Solutions
Co-founder, Matt Damon, shares how our solutions work together to break down the barriers between people in need and access to safe water and sanitation.
Smart solutions in action
For millions of people around the world, access to funds stands between them and safe water and sanitation in their homes. Our suite of solutions – enabling small loans for household access, impact investing to bring in more capital, and infrastructure project development to expand reach – work together to break down the barriers between people and access to safe water and sanitation.
Our unique solutions are market-driven and adapt to the 13 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America where we work. With 30 years of experience and insight, and in collaboration with our partners, we are developing more efficient, scalable solutions and using financing as a tool to help people living in poverty get access to safe water and sanitation.
WaterCredit: Small loans, big impact
The WaterCredit Initiative® is a proven, powerful solution and the first to put microfinance tools to work in the water and sanitation sector.
WaterCredit helps bring small loans to those who need access to affordable financing and expert resources to make household water and toilet solutions a reality. It is a pay-it-forward system that makes it possible to help more people in ways that will last.
Access to financing is solving the water crisis for millions
We use access to affordable financing to bring safe water and sanitation to the world, and it is working. Through years of experience, we found that millions of people were paying high prices for water from vendors or collecting water from unsafe natural sources. Both options cost families in time, money, opportunities and health.
For millions of people, financing makes sense. Small, affordable loans offer families the ability to purchase long-term safe water and sanitation solutions that solve their immediate need and over time will cost less than continuing to pay for temporary fixes.
Water.org believes that access to capital is the most important barrier to overcome in order to solve the global water crisis. We have broadened our efforts and joined forces with others to increase financing for water and sanitation, helping even more people in need.
Our solutions increase the impact of your dollar
Based on the capital we've helped mobilize and our expenses to date, every dollar donated to Water.org helps unlock $21 for water and sanitation solutions for people living in poverty. This is possible because we use philanthropic funds to set up market-driven financial solutions that bring safe water and sanitation to people in need.
Our work to help the world reach a critical goal – safe water and sanitation for all – drives our desire to make a dollar go as far as possible. Our donors recognize that giving to Water.org is a smart investment. And our local partners know that working with us is a smart business decision. Together, we can change more lives, faster and more efficiently.
Using philanthropy to scale access to safe water and sanitation
Our approach combines philanthropy, investment, and infrastructure development to scale lasting access to safe water and sanitation. Philanthropy lays the foundation. Investment accelerates scale. Infrastructure ensures the solutions reach the people who need them.
Collaboration is central to the strength of our approach. Water.org’s solutions — WaterCredit, WaterEquity, and WaterConnect — offer distinct and complementary approaches to solving the global water crisis.
Scaling our solution through WaterEquity
We established WaterEquity, an impact investment manager dedicated to ending the global water crisis, with an exclusive focus on raising and deploying capital for water and sanitation solutions throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Developing sustainable water infrastructure through WaterConnect
We established WaterConnect with the purpose of addressing the lack of investment-ready water and sanitation infrastructure projects where we work.
Partnering to accelerate access
Water.org works with partners across sectors, including financial institutions and water service providers, to expand access to affordable financing for water and sanitation. We provide technical assistance, share best practices, and collaborate with stakeholders to develop, implement, and scale effective solutions.
Increasing access to financing at a systems level
As leaders in financing for water and sanitation, we are committed to working with development agencies, governments and other partners to influence public policy and practice changes that make more funds available for water and sanitation solutions at local, national and global levels.
Driving impact through evidence
We use data and evidence to drive innovation and impact within our organization and around the world. We are dedicated to generating a credible evidence base for influencing action to bring safe water and sanitation to all.
Changing millions of lives
We've helped empower more than 95 million people with access to safe water or sanitation. See the impact and read the personal stories of the people whose lives have been changed thanks to your support.
Cumulative Water.org Group performance and financial data listed reflect the combined activities of Water.org, WaterEquity, and WaterConnect. Please contact relevant organization for entity-specific financial, investment, and regulatory disclosures.
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