This World Water Week, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Gap Inc. Women + Water Alliance, have attained the goal of empowering two million people to improve their access to water and sanitation in India.
This initiative aims to improve and sustain the health and well-being of communities touched by the apparel industry in two states in India, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Mark Breitbard, CEO of Gap, shared the news at SIWI World Water Week.
“I am extremely proud of this milestone because it shows the power we have when we work with great partners and use the scale of our business to drive meaningful change.”
Through this community water resilience initiative led by Gap Inc. and USAID since 2017, our implementing partners CARE, WaterAid, Water.org, and the Institute for Sustainable Communities have been working to empower women as advocates for their water needs, improve access to water and sanitation at the village and household levels, and advance water stewardship best practices for cotton farming.
To date, our Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) partners WaterAid and Water.org have reached more than two million people in India with improved access to water and sanitation.
The programming will continue to expand its impact through January 2023.
This season, Gap is introducing its first products made with cotton that was grown in villages where the Women + Water Alliance is empowering women and community members to improve their access to clean water and sanitation.
In parallel, we are also supporting farmers in those villages to convert to organic cotton-farming practices, to improve local water quality.
Pramila is one of those farmers—and a bold dreamer who took the initiative to get involved in village planning for clean water access.