Monday, April 2, 2012

Hundreds Walk for Water and Sanitation in Uganda!

Gladys Nagawa is a Project Officer at UWASNET in Kampala, Uganda. Here she talks about their participation in the World Walks for Water and Sanitation

On 22nd March 2012, Uganda joined the rest of the world to Walk for Water and Sanitation. UWASNET organised Walks in the districts of Kanungu, Otuke, Kabarole and Busia. The walks involved participants from the rural communities and included women, children and older people.

The walks were a distance of 2 to 3 km. The aim was to symbolize the long distances that the communities, in particular the women and children, have to cover looking for clean and safe water. We wanted to draw the attention of policy makers and decision makers to this appalling situation as well as increasing public awareness and support.

We are pleased that over 850 people joined the walk in Kannugu, including 300 children!

UWASNET, with support from WaterAid Uganda, also developed a civil society petition that we presented at the Otuke and Kanungu District events. We called for political and funding commitment to water and sanitation. We also asked for the inclusion of water and sanitation in plans to ensure health, nutrition and education for all if we are to meet Millennium Development Goal 7. The Minister for Water and Environment joined the event and gladly endorsed the commitments with a signature.

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