Problem: still no safe drinking water for many Ugandans
The UN sustainable goals 2020 – 2030 number 6 is: safe drinking water and sanitation. Stop Poverty is working on this goal. Since 2008 we have provided over 100 water wells in South-India, many deepwater wells in Mozambique and since 2016 in Uganda.
According to UNICEF in May 2025, nearly 38% of Ugandans still lack access to safe water. In rural and underserved communities, the situation is even more challenging, with women and children walking an average of three kilometres daily just to fetch water, often from unsafe sources.
In addition, many water pumps are not well maintained and repairs to the water supplies take a lot of time. As a result, 20% of the water supplies do not fully work.
Stop Poverty offers safe water to build a healthy life
Safe drinking water is a primary health condition. Contaminated water brings deadly water-related diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery. Investing in water is of vital importance. The first water installation that Stop Poverty provided (through sponsoring) was built in 2009. Since the availability of this water installation, diarrhea and diseases such as dysentery and cholera, have dropped to almost zero!
In the meantime, we have provided several water installations for disadvantaged communities in the Jinja district in recent years. The success of this depends on the training of new and existing (village) water committees, in managing local water supplies, collecting small contributions for uses of the water and informing the community. This ensures sustainable, safe and reliable water supplies throughout our working area.
In dry summers, harvests can wither due to a lack of water. This can subsequently lead to a food shortage. Providing agricultural projects with irrigation guarantees a harvest every time. Over 70% of the Ugandan population depends on agriculture.
Sanitary measures are implemented in the projects as follows:
- Handwashing program and education
- Provision of soap
- Facilitating toilets with water closets and washbasins with soap.
Stop Poverty provides deepwater wells (borewells) with a depth of 50 to 80 meters deep. Shallow wells are hand dug to about 30 meters deep end fall dry in times of no rain and can get blocked by mud.
Deepwater wells
Water wells being repaired
Water for agricultural projects provides food security