Water and Sanitation Hygiene


At UMR, we are guided by the belief that water is the fundamental basis of life. We believe that each human being has a basic human right to consumable water, and that this right is undermined by the significant obstacles faced  by the 750 million people who lack access to clean, safe water.

840,000 people around the world die each year due to the inaccessibility of clean water.

Conflict in Western Darfur, south Sudan has increased the number of people streaming into refugee camps. There are approximately 1,873,300 Internally Displaced People (IDP) in south Sudan, a significant number of them in Darfur, where there is limited access to health care.

UMR is working alongside the WHO and UNICEF to implement a joint emergency health intervention in an effort to improve the dire health status of war- affected people in El- Geneina. To date 48,872 outpatients have been seen in the El Reyed and Abuzar camps and a further 30,000 IDPs have been seen in the Terbaba region.

It’s hard to avoid discussion about water in today’s climate. Around the world, there is growing concern about our failed stewardship of the world’s most precious resource. With increased consumption on the one hand and an ever expanding population on the other, there are real fears about shortages and unfair distribution.

Most of us have never experienced genuine thirst. We’ve never had to leave our houses and walk five miles to fetch water. Water that is often dirty and muddy. We simply turn on the tap, and clean water comes out. There are however 748 million people on the planet who don’t have access to clean water.

Health and Sanitation

Diseases which are arise from the drinking of unsafe water coupled with the lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses.


Women and Children

In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year walking for water. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, where they are forced to walk miles to the nearest water source, which is too often unprotected and contaminated. Time spent walking to collect water alongside illness from waterborne diseases keeps children from school and women from work. Along their walk, women are too often subjected to a greater risk of harassment and sexual assault. By providing safe water nearby, women are given the time to pursue new opportunities and improve the lives of their families.

Food Supply

Feeding the world uses up nearly 90% of the world’s freshwater withdrawals. When a well is built in a community, members can often use the new water source to grow small gardens near their homes and secure their own food supply.

Gender Equality

In most rural communities worldwide, women and young girls are responsible for walking to collect water for their families. Building a well nearby can give women the freedom to pursue an education or earn extra income.

Personalized Plaque

Dig a full well with us and you will get a personalized completion report within 8 months of your donation. Once the well is complete, you will receive a report from us which includes the location of the well as well as photographs of the well and a personalised plaque.

Why not gift a well today?


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