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Water-Share Ireland & GOAL

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Delivering sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes

Water-Share Ireland, a GOAL programme, is resourced through the support of its members from the Irish water resources sector. Members kindly contribute funding, technical resources and expertise.

Water-Share Ireland works to deliver sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes to highly vulnerable communities in Eastern Uganda, Sierra Leone and NW Syria.

WASH programmes are vital for the well-being of communities across the globe. Everyone needs clean, safe water for drinking, cooking and washing.

 

Why Water-Share?

Water-Share Ireland members help to amplify GOAL’s WASH programming in the world's most vulnerable communities. By tapping into the talent, commitment and generosity of their employees Irish companies are helping to transform thousands of lives every day.

In the words of Jerry Grant, Founder and Chairman, Water-Share Ireland, "My visits to Uganda and Sierra Leone with GOAL highlighted how this collaboration, using the skills and expertise of the sector, can deliver major benefits in terms of drinking water supply, faecal sludge management, training and capability building in rural communities.

The impact of the collaboration hit home when I visited the Macca community in Sierra Leone and the community leader pointed to the smiling healthy children who before were constantly falling ill and not thriving."

The problem in numbers

Every 2 minutes

a child dies from a preventable diarrhoea-related disease

2 billion

people lack access to safe drinking water

3.6 billion

people lack access to safe sanitation

494 million

people are forced to practice open defecation

"In its delivery of basic services to communities who need them, Water-Share Ireland gives sector companies and staff a unique opportunity for cross-sector collaboration, benefitting both recipient communities and those contributing to the work.” continued Jerry Grant.

Key achievements

  • Technical design of rural water systems in Uganda and Zimbabwe
  • First ever ‘pilot’ faecal sludge treatment system in Freetown, Sierra Leone
  • First phase of a major rural water project in southeast Uganda

Want to get involved?

Water-Share Ireland is seeking new members from the public and private sectors to reach more families with life-saving support. In 2023 we hope to raise an additional €60,000 to improve access to water and sanitation services in the world's most vulnerable communities.

Companies are offered the following Membership options:

Water-Share Patron: Commitment to annual funding of €5,000, which can include services in kind on projects (staff input, materials, research, or secretariat facilities). Each patron is invited to nominate one member to the Water-Share Steering Committee.

Water-Share Supporter: Commitment to annual funding of €1,000 with staff afforded full opportunity to engage in the work where the opportunity is identified.

Please contact Jerry or John today to find out how your company can help transform lives.

Jerry Grantwatershare@jerrygrant.ie+353 87 234 9554

John Gowenwatershare@goal.ie+353 89 463 0953

Water-Share Ireland 2023 Infographic FINAL

Discover the impact of Water-Share Ireland on driving the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), anchored in SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation, while simultaneously reaching across
multiple other goals, empowering vulnerable communities and fostering resilience.

What Water-Share Ireland membership means

The success of Water-Share Ireland projects benefits thousands of people every day. Together, we are improving water quality, providing access to safe water and sanitation solutions for so many vulnerable communities in the developing world.

Niall Gleeson, CEO, Uisce Eireann, Barry O'Connell, Chairman, GOAL, Siobhan Walsh, CEO, GOAL and Jerry Grant, Chairman, Water-Share Ireland

Niall Gleeson, CEO, Uisce Eireann, Barry O'Connell, Chairman, GOAL, Siobhan Walsh, CEO, GOAL and Jerry Grant, Chairman, Water-Share Ireland

This meaningful engagement with Water- Share Ireland companies not only offers your employees an opportunity to help GOAL deliver essential WASH programmes to people in need, but members also experience a tangible confluence between their businesses and GOAL’s development work. This can fulfil CSR objectives and can help enrich colleagues’ work experiences. Together, we are working in alliance to deliver on UN Sustainable Development Goal 6, Clean Water and Sanitation for all.

Water-Share Ireland contributes to the work of GOAL through a Memorandum of Understanding, whereby funds from sector members are transmitted directly to GOAL and accounted for as a separate funding stream. The Water-Share Ireland Committee notes and approves allocations of funding to projects and receives and responds to requests for support. Sector companies can make meaningful contributions to the projects and involve staff where there is a good skill-set overlap. This sector has a shared commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) benefits in their values and purpose. Water-Share Ireland gives meaningful expression to those values.

Thank you for your membership and financial support to Water-Share Ireland. 

Water-Share Partners

Water-Share's Impact

Sierra Leone
Uganda
Syria
SDGs
Partnering for Impact

Sierra Leone

In Freetown, a city with a population of more than 1 million people, GOAL with numerous Water-Share Ireland partners (including EPS, Nicholas O’Dwyer and other Water-Share members in their personal capacity), has recently constructed and commissioned the country’s first faecal sludge treatment plant.

Working closely with the Freetown City Council, the plant is now treating up to 10 tanker loads of sludge a day using a novel geotextile bag de-watering process.

The DCU Water Institute and RPS provided GIS services as part of GOAL's assessment of access to mechanised latrine emptying services across the city.

GOAL's work in Sierra Leone

Uganda

GOAL and Water-Share Ireland have completed Phase 1 of a project aimed at bringing potable water to areas lacking suitable groundwater resources of their own.

These areas, adjacent to the shores of Lake Victoria, have long suffered with insufficient access to safe drinking water. Supported by a skilled volunteer team of Water-Share members and ARUP, Phase 1 has identified a number of potential high yield boreholes with good quality water, and the team are currently scoping Phase 2 feasibility for commencement in 2022.

GOAL's work in Uganda

Syria

GOAL is providing clean, safe water to over 350,000 people across Idlib Governorate, which is severely affected by the ongoing conflict in Syria.

GOAL is working with the local authorities to rehabilitate, operate and maintain the pre-war water infrastructure. In an effort to better understand leakage levels and prioritise the worst locations for rehabilitation with limited funds, GOAL started liaising with RPS for remote support and technical mentoring to GOAL’s Syrian WASH team in 2020, however this work was interrupted because of escalating conflict on the ground. GOAL is looking to re-establish this support in 2022.

GOAL's work in Syria

Partnering for Impact

Thanks to fantastic support from the Irish water industry, both public and private, Water-Share Ireland has made significant progress since 2019:

  • €120,000 raised from 20 private sector companies, a family foundation, and the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland
  • Additional benefit-in-kind and invaluable staff contributions, valued at approximately €40,000.
  • Successful projects completed in Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Syria.
  • Volunteer resources from personnel at Uisce Eireann, Nicholas O’Dwyer Ltd, ARUP, JB Barry & Partners Ltd, RPS Group, Ryan Hanley, EPS, FLI Group, Veolia, TOBIN, Cully Automation, DCU Water Institute and others.

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