HRH The Prince of Wales, who has been President of international charity WaterAid since 1991, has agreed to extend his Presidency.
During his tenure as President, he has helped raise awareness of the 785 million people in the world – one in ten – who do not have clean water close to home and around 310,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That’s almost 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.
His Royal Highness has played a vital role through visits to WaterAid projects in developing countries as well as hosting events at Clarence House and St James’s Palace.
Most recently, during a visit to Ghana in 2018, he met schoolgirls trained as water, sanitation and hygiene champions and learned about the charity’s work in Kassena-Nankana West, which is frequently affected by long dry seasons. This work includes rainwater harvesting systems, a solar generator-powered water system, biodigester toilets, a biogas-fuelled school kitchen and biogas-fuelled health clinic incinerator.
Welcoming the announcement from Clarence House, WaterAid’s Chief Executive Tim Wainwright said:
“For almost 30 years we have been extremely fortunate that HRH The Prince of Wales has used his unique position to help WaterAid change lives in the world’s poorest and most marginalised people.
“We are extremely grateful to His Royal Highness for his continued support, particularly around highlighting the impact of climate change on people’s access to clean water and decent sanitation. We remain committed, as does our President, to a world where everyone, everywhere has access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, whatever the future holds.”
