Water and poverty

In Uganda we’ve worked with the government, NGOs and communities to help increase towns’ capacity to provide and maintain sustainable basic water and sanitation services

Addressing health, livelihoods and vulnerability

Water is vital for people’s livelihoods and well-being. By increasing access to safe supplies, responsible water resources management contributes to sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation through improved agriculture, greater food security, more clean drinking water and better sanitation.

The task force monitoring progress towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reported that the relationship between water and people living in poverty could be viewed in three dimensions – health, livelihoods and vulnerability. The health of poor people is disproportionately affected by contaminated water and poor sanitation services, setting up a cycle of ill-health and further impoverishment that has severe financial and personal costs. In rural areas, poor people’s livelihood systems are rooted in the natural world and depend upon ecosystem health. Contamination of common property resources like lakes, rivers and coastal areas directly translate into less food, income and time for the poor. Vulnerability is a critical dimension of poverty, since poor people are particularly at risk from environmental shocks and crises. Natural disasters, changes in rainfall patterns, shifting agricultural zones and rising sea levels have a disproportionate impact on the poor.

Helping donors, governments, private sector organisations and local communities address these three areas are Mott MacDonald professionals with strong skills and experience in:

• integrated water resources management
• urban and rural water supplies
• health and hygiene education
• water and wastewater treatment
• sanitation
• irrigation, drainage and watershed management
• dams, reservoirs and hydraulic structures
• flood alleviation and river management
• surface and groundwater pollution
• groundwater remediation
• institutional development
• rural institutions and water users’ groups

More than this, thanks to our in-house specialist teams in both education and health development – including responses to HIV and AIDS – we have the capacity to provide upstream multi-sectoral services such as:

• development economics
• financial and budget management
• monitoring and evaluation
• governance
• gender equality
• stakeholder and community participation
• aid management
• social development