Pushed to action (I) : How these Nigerian communities are fighting water insecurity

The Network of Water Rights Initiative (NWRI) works with local organizations to improve access to safe water through education and awareness campaigns aimed at enlightening people about the health risks of contaminated water. NWRI has led water clean-up efforts, helped locals establish security measures to prevent people from dumping waste in water and even helped get a water bill signed into law that would improve water supply and sanitation services across the state.

To combat health and sanitary issues arising from high rates of open defecation and a lack of government support, community members worked together to fund and build 14 easily accessible toilets that are cleaned daily and open for anyone to use.

In a village facing water scarcity, generous locals with funds to spare are installing boreholes in their homes with pumps outside for other residents in the village to access clean, safe water.

In rural areas where access to clean water is scarce and leads to increased waterborne illnesses, Smart Project is expanding safe water access by building wells in the community. The organization also provided the 30 households in the community with a 10-liter keg of water for cleaning, bathing, and washing dishes to prevent people from having to travel long distances to reach fresh water.

Community members, in collaboration with the non-profit Save the Children and the United States Agency for International Development, installed a solar-powered borehole earlier this year, making clean water more accessible to the village. Community members regularly clean the water taps and perform system maintenance to ensure the water supply isn’t disrupted, as the solar-powered solution has become their primary source of clean water.

Amidst water scarcity and increased waterborne diseases, community members are using sand dams, an innovative water management system, to conserve rainwater for daily use. Sand dams offer extended water storage capabilities, lasting up to a year, ensuring community members have consistent access to clean water for farming, cooking and general hygiene. There are currently six sand dams in the community serving 600 households.

In 2021, Scotland implemented the Period Products (Free Provision) Act to combat period poverty by ensuring free period products are widely accessible. While schools and some community establishments have successfully improved product accessibility and challenged period stigma, issues like poor awareness, uneven product distribution and insufficient resources remain obstacles.

As a result of locals writing to their political representatives, the Nigerian government began a borehole intervention project to provide more than 2,000 residents with clean, easily accessible water. The project also provided a generator to address the village’s lack of power supply and residents pay N20 ($0.02) to access the borehole, which covers the cost of running the generator.

The Water Access Rwanda project created a source of clean drinking water by establishing a network of pipelines and solar-powered pumps that help deliver purified drinking water to homes. Not only has the project provided a way for people to access clean water, but it has also provided jobs for over 60 people.

Lansing, Michigan built an ecosystem of community violence intervention programs (anchored by Advance Peace and the Lansing Empowerment Network) that reduced shootings by 38% between 2022 and 2025. Their relationship-based outreach, mentorship, and victim support continue to prove effective despite federal funding cuts.