Why we do it
Poverty-reduction happens too slowly. We need more action-heroes to get things done
2.6 billion people lack sanitation facilities and 1.1 billion can't access safe drinking water. Solve this, and people have shown they can lift themselves out of poverty fast. Every dollar invested in providing safe drinking water has a knock-on effect of between 3 and 34 dollars. Healthy people that don’t have to spend hours fetching water can focus on making a living.
The Akvo approach - large numbers of small projects work best
World leaders have agreed to halve the number of people that live in poverty by 2015. But there is no time or capacity to do this through large, centralised initiatives. We focus on realising large numbers of small, decentralised drinking water and toilet projects, because the evidence is overwhelming that this approach works fast.
Support and acknowledge local doers
Poor people are often depicted as merely ‘victims’. This does not do justice to their ability to act and make things happen. We believe in doers that act as agents of change in their communities.
Show how money makes things happen
Akvo uses the Internet to make sure donations are linked directly to local projects. Normally donors do not see what happens with their contributions and often 10 per cent can be spent before a project is even selected. Akvo makes it easy for donors to choose projects and for local field teams to share short text and picture updates online, so everyone can follow progress.
Share what we know openly
Practical information about water and sanitation solutions is hard to access for the people that need it most. There is a need for more open ways for people to find and share practical information about low cost water and sanitation solutions.