Clean Water, Brighter Future

Around the world over 2 billion people, including children, lack access to safe and clean water.  

But together, we can change this. Help us transform a trickle of water into a lifeline. Your support can provide access to clean water and change lives. 

Clean water. Brighter future. Your donation can make it happen.

Clean water means better education

Without access to clean water, children may get sick and miss out on school.

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Image: Local students at a school in Cambodia. Credit: Tim Lam/Caritas Austalia
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Vibol and his daughter, Neth, watering crops in his garden. Photo: Tim Lam/Caritas Australia

Clean water means better food security

When there is a water shortage, families in rural communities struggle to grow crops.

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Image: Salin and her family sit outside their house in Cambodia. Credit: Tim Lam/Caritas Austalia

Ending poverty starts with clean water – and you

Meet Salin and her family. Access to safe water transformed their lives.

Before a water station was established in her community, Salin’s family struggled to regularly access clean drinking water, with the nearest water well over 1.5 kilometres from their village. The alternative was to buy water that was transported by a truck, but this was expensive and meant Salin had less funds to spend on other essentials. 

With the support of the Upholding Community Dignity Together program run by Caritas Australia's partner in Cambodia, Salin and her family now have easy access to water to grow crops, wash hands and keep their daughter healthy. 

We believe in the incredible potential that lies within a single drop of water. With your help, we can turn that potential into a life-changing force.

Clean water can change a life. Give the gift of hope.

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Water means...

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The garden at Salin's school is flourishing thanks to a nearby water station. Photo: Tim Lam/Caritas Australia

Nourishment 

Water is essential for not only growing crops and producing food, but also critical for a person’s health. Regarded as the most important nutrient, water keeps bodies hydrated and aids vital bodily functions.  

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Salin teaching students at her school in the Siem Reap province, Cambodia. Photo: Tim Lam/Caritas Australia

Improved Education

At least 1 in 3 schools lack access to water and basic sanitation. These basic facilities are necessary for children to attend classes, with the search for water a time-consuming part of their daily lives.

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Children at this school in rural Cambodia can now wash their hands thanks to the establishment of a local water station. Photo: Tim Lam/Caritas Australia

Improved Health

Health and well-being are only possible with safe water to maintain hygiene and sanitation practices. Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the spread of preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid.  

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Image: As a school principal, Salin is committed to teaching young children in her community. Credit: Tim Lam/Caritas Austalia

Financial Security

In 80% of water-deprived households, women and girls carry the burden of water collection. Worldwide, women will spend approximately 200 million hours altogether collecting water. This often leaves women with less time for education, work or caring for their families, reinforcing the cycle of gender inequality. 

Transform a community with the power of clean water.

For more than 55 years, Caritas Australia has been working with the most marginalised communities in Australia and overseas, to confront the challenges of poverty.

We recognise that access to clean water is a human right and that it is crucial to the overall development of a community – especially a community vulnerable to poverty. 

When you donate to Caritas Australia, you become a lifeline for those who need it most. Your support not only brings clean water but also ignites a chain reaction of positive change. By giving, you become part of a movement that restores dignity, saves lives, and unlocks a brighter future for generations to come.

Every drop counts, and so does every contribution you make.

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A life-changing gift 

Like many families in her village in Cambodia, Salin faced constant water shortages which made it difficult to provide safe drinking water for her family. 

See how her life changed and the impact that a simple water station had on this entire community.

2.2 billion  

people around the world do not have safely managed drinking water services 

200 million

The number of hours women and girls spend collecting water worldwide, every day

Nearly 40%

of people around the world lack basic handwashing facilities 

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Image: Salin with her family in their farm in Cambodia. Credit: Tim Lam/Caritas Austalia

The gift of water can transform lives this tax time

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can help a family to get started in chicken-raising to improve livelihoods.
a month can contribute to building a mobile hand washing station to support a community with clean water.

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Support and empower vulnerable people around the world.

Donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible

Along with your generous support, this program is also supported by the Australian Government, through Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).

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