Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6

Globally, 771 million people still lack basic water service—a drinking water source that is accessible within a 30-minute round trip from their home. Even more people, 1.7 billion, still do not have access to basic sanitation—a toilet or latrine that is not shared with other households.

All human beings share the need for drinking water and sanitation, and the people with least access to them pay a high price in health, time, and money to get them. But there is another side to this story: Many people who lack access to water and sanitation know exactly how to solve their problems. They may just need to connect to an existing water system, buy a toilet, or set up a rainwater harvesting system using readily available labor, technology, and materials. Their solutions are in plain sight. They just need a financial bridge to reach them.

Mechanisms that strategically use donor finance to catalyze private investment – often referred to as “blended finance” – will be critical to filling the financing gap that exists to solve the global water crisis. Water.org is well-poised to help the global community move forward.

Learn more from Water.org’s Chief Operating Officer Vedika Bhandarkar as she explains how blended finance is a solution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for achieving global access to safe water and sanitation.