Guest blogger Monica Ellis is the CEO of Global Water Challenge, a coalition of 24 leading organizations in the water and sanitation sector committed to achieving its collective vision of universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
In just over a week, history will be made with the Dow Live Earth Run for Water, and you can play a part. On April 18th, concerned citizens, celebrities, activists, politicians, Olympians and musicians will come together in nearly 100 cities around the world for the largest event ever to raise awareness and funds to tackle the global water crisis.
The Dow Live Earth Run for Water is a series of 6-kilometer runs/walks (the average distance women and children walk everyday to secure water), followed by concerts and water education activities. Grammy Award winners Melissa Etheridge, Rob Thomas, John Legend and The Roots will be performing at concerts in cities across the United States. Register to run today and join the global movement.
Currently, water-related diseases are responsible for nearly 80% of all illnesses and deaths in the developing world. Today’s youth, the leaders of tomorrow, have been handicapped by missing nearly half a billion days of school every year due to water-related illnesses.
Water serves an incredible range of functions, and as a result, the impact of the lack of safe water is far reaching. For example, according to the World Health Organization, half of the world’s malnutrition is caused by water and sanitation-related diseases. Improving access to water and sanitation holds the key to solving some of the world’s greatest development challenges including health, hunger, poverty, gender equality, education, and security issues.
Because simple and cost-effective solutions exist, we know that we can tackle the global water crisis with the support of people like you. In the last 10 years, roughly 200 million people have gained access to clean water. Now with momentum on our side, we hope that Live Earth helps to create a tipping point in the effort to bring clean water to all.
All funds raised in the United States will go to Global Water Challenge (GWC) projects in developing countries. The GWC video below highlights one of the innovative programs GWC invests in.
I hope that you will be part of the movement to turn the tide on the global water crisis. For more information, visit http://www.liveearth.org/.
Tags | 
Fearless Focus: Max Wallace
