Why Do We Celebrate Access To Water and Sanitation While Considerable Challenges Persist?

In calendar year 2024, World Vision Mozambique was among the top three organisations that provided clean water systems in the country, contributing significantly to the general increase in access to water, particularly in rural areas where water coverage stands at 51,7 percent.

Government authorities estimate that 20.7 million people out of the current 33 million inhabitants have access to clean water and 13 million to proper sanitation. In other words, more than one-third of the population still can’t access clean water, and more than half of the population does not have access to proper sanitation.

We could easily choose to focus on the needs and the journey to continue expanding access to clean water and address the lack of proper sanitation, but that would not be fair to the efforts of all donors, government efforts, partners, and the community, which are putting in the work and resources to guarantee that the number of people accessing water grows.

We are choosing to celebrate, all the water systems installed in the previous year, choosing to celebrate all the investment channeled for clean water in health centers, schools, and communities because of the following impact that is immediately generated among the beneficiaries:

Hope

A new water system brought hope to 16-year-old Dina from Nampula province. Thanks to generous contributions from the people of the United Kingdom, this adolescent dedicated 30 minutes once to walking to a river only to collect dirty water that was consumed amid all risks, including going sick with waterborne diseases.

Equal to Dina’s family, about 100 other families from her community improved their living conditions through direct access to clean water.

Dignity

As women such as Sara from southern Gaza province in Mozambique, who, since her childhood, has known nothing else but walking long and dangerous paths to collect water from sources shared with wild animals, including elephants, the new sources represent ending the long conflict between man and wild animals.

“This borehole has brought more than just water; it has brought us health and dignity. For the first time, we can imagine a future where our children are healthy, where our girls can lean without interruption, and where we as women can contribute to the growth of our families and community”.

Human Rights

We celebrate because we are contributing to realizing a basic human right: “Access to water and sanitation are recognized by the United Nations as human rights—fundamental to everyone’s health, dignity and prosperity.”

This World Water Day 2025, we deliberately decided to focus on the conquers, including emotional wins, as testified by the 9-year-old Maria from the central province of Tete, who, at a very young age, already feared death after losing her younger brother and did not resist a waterborne disease.

“Last year, my youngest brother, who was four years old, died of diarrhea and vomiting, which caused me sadness and fear,” said the young Maria. But the new borehole installed in her community took that fear away and restored her confidence.

A clean water system installed in the calendar year 2024 directly benefited 222 000 people while sanitation conditions and good hygiene reached more than 190 300 people in the provinces. World Vision Mozambique is operating, adding to the efforts of the government and other partners to guarantee that no one is left behind.

We are celebrating, but we are not naive. We are driven by the motto “Leave no one behind.” While Dina and Maria are celebrating, 12-year-old Lizete is still walking long distances to collect unsafe water. Claudina on the other side of the world, has her hope shaking. The good news is that we know the solution: expand access to clean water.