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One Drop and Water For People partner up

March 10, 2014, New York City – One Drop
and Water For People recently formed a strategic partnership to eradicate water
and sanitation poverty. The collaboration is expected to impact more than
650,000 people in India’s Sheohar district.

March 10, 2014, New York City – One Drop
and Water For People recently formed a strategic partnership to eradicate water
and sanitation poverty. The collaboration is expected to impact more than
650,000 people in India’s Sheohar district.

These two large players in the water and
sanitation sector are collaborating beyond the scope of individual programming
to ensure sustainability and increase the scale and impact of their work.

“We share the belief that sustainability
and economic empowerment are the foundation of international development,” said
Catherine B. Bachand, One Drop’s chief executive officer in a news release.
“This partnership will demonstrate ways the water sector can collaborate to
increase the return on investment of funding, and ultimately, achieve the
mutual goal of delivering sustainable solutions at scale.”

“We are excited to pool our talents and
resources in the interest of vulnerable communities, families, and children
specifically in the Sheohar district of India,” said Ned Breslin, chief executive
officer of Water For People in a news release. “This partnership has the
potential to shift how philanthropy and international aid is approached to
permanently resolve the water and sanitation crisis in the developing world.”

The partnership, which will impact more
than 650,000 people by 2018, leverages One Drop and Water For People’s core
organizational strengths.  The investment
over the five-year period is estimated at $10.8 million, with Water For People
contributing $5.8 million and One Drop contributing $5 million. This investment
builds on the considerable investments Water For People has already made in the
district of Sheohar.

One Drop brings its expertise in ensuring
the sustainability of its water, sanitation, and hygiene programs by combining
access to water, access to microcredit and impact on behaviour change through
social arts.

Water For People brings its proven
experience in working with governments and communities to provide sustainable
access to drinking water, market-based solutions for access to household
sanitation, comprehensive school programming on hygiene education, and
institutional capacity building in order to achieve district-wide water
coverage in every household, school, and clinic. 

Despite decades of development activity by
non-profits and governments, between 780 million to 1.2 billion people in the
world do not have sustainable access to safe drinking water.

Water For People has been active in
developing sustainable water and sanitation access programs in India since 1996
and in 2005 established a full-fledged program in India. One Drop has been
active in India since 2011.

Through its “Everyone Forever” model, Water
For People provides every household, school and clinic in the districts where
they work with sustainable access to water and sanitation. By developing
partnerships with local governments, the local private sector and the community
Water For People promote capacity building and water system governance at a
local level with the end goal of empowering the communities to achieve
independence from foreign aid.

For more information, visit www.onedrop.org or
www.waterforpeople.org .