WALKING AROUND THE WORLD FOR CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
My name is Anna Harrington, and I will spend the next six years circumnavigating the globe on foot to support Goal 6 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Walking 20 miles (32 km) a day, I trek through the heat, cold, rain, and snow, but the difference for me is that I have a choice. One out of ten people doesn’t enjoy that luxury.
A visit to Nicaragua in 2015 opened my eyes to the struggle many women and children face around the world, and it forever changed how I think about water.
I watched women burdened with the arduous task of fetching water from a nearby river. Many of them make the journey several times a day while carrying a five-gallon bucket of water weighing up to 45 lb on top of their heads.
The water is a frequent cause of illness, but the river is the community's only water source, therefore, they have no choice but to drink it.
844 million people live without access to clean drinking water, and 2.5 billion people don't have access to a toilet.
World leaders have acknowledged these facts, and, furthermore, pledged to provide clean water and sanitation for everyone on the planet by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global call to action adopted by 193 nations to end extreme poverty, fight inequalities, and tackle climate change. It's a set of 17 goals to transform our planet and the lives of everyone by 2030, leaving no one behind.
It is my mission to highlight these promises made by world leaders and encourage citizens to hold their respective leaders accountable for the commitments they have made.
Together, we can achieve these goals and ensure everyone on the planet has access to clean water and sanitation.
“This is the people’s agenda, a plan of action for ending poverty in all its dimensions, irreversibly, everywhere, and leaving no one behind.”