The Project

The Problem: Each person on earth requires an estimated 20 to 50 litres each day of safe water for drinking, cooking, and simply keeping themselves clean. However, according to UNICEF Nigeria about 70 million people, out of a population of 171 million, lack access to safe drinking water. Each year, an estimated 124,000 children under the age of 5 die from diarrhea, mainly due to unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene. Lack of adequate water and sanitation are significant causes of other deadly illnesses, including respiratory inflection and malnutrition. 

In Borno State, Nigeria, about 1.4 million men, women, and children live in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps. Extreme flooding events take place annually due to heavy rainfall, exacerbated by climate change, and waste accumulations in drainage systems. IDP camps severely lack access to safe drinking water, exacerbating an already dire situation. 

2022 marks the twelfth year since the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 64/929, which explicitly recognized the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation. The current challenge is to translate human rights obligations into meaningful action on the ground. The human rights to water and sanitation do not exist in isolation from other human rights.  

Project Mission: The mission of the Safe Drinking Water Project is to realize the human rights to water and sanitation, SDG 6 of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. 

Safe water doesn’t just mean people gain hours back for themselves and their families. It means people live longer, healthier lives. Parents are more likely to see their children grow up. The economy expands. Political unrest declines. Families can keep their kids in school. There’s more time for work, rest, and play. 

Project Vision: A world where every person has access to reliable and safe water and sanitation services. 

Focus Region: Nigeria

Project Details: EnvironFocus, in partnership with charitable organizations, is working to provide Nigerian Communities with safe drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Project. The Safe Water Drinking Project provides individuals and organizations an opportunity to assist a Nigerian school, village, Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camp, or a health centre with access to safe, clean drinking water, free of pathogenic micro-organisms that cause waterborne diseases, as well as provide sanitation and hygiene workshops. 

Project Initiatives: 

• Water infrastructure development projects such as laying of pipes or community borehole drilling. 

• Sanitation and hygiene workshops for communities and schools. 

• Water quality improvement initiatives such as the provision of instant microbial water filtration systems.

Past Activities: Click here to see pictures of some of our previous project activities. 

Partners of the SDWP: 
Click here to see a list of our current partners. The list includes our local Implementation partners and our CSR clients.