The United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), as part of its continuous outreach efforts about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), shares this story related to Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, submitted by Pompeu Fabra University, a UNAI member institution located in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain?
13 September 2018 - (Spain), a member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), is actively promoting a wide range of initiatives to advance the Sustainable Development Goals. As a concrete example of this, a group of students on the bachelor's degree in Advertising and Public Relations, in particular those of the course on Communications and Events Management taught by lecturers Mònika Jiménez Morales and Marta Lopera, came up with an idea.
The students decided to start a campaign in order to create awareness among the university community about the lack of water in many schools and community centres in Africa. The absence of drinking water is one of the direct causes of a high rate of infant mortality in the African continent. The lack of infrastructures, the rainfall regime, climate change and the pollution of aquifers are factors that make the availability of water one of the most serious problems in terms of survival, health and economy.
The Missing Water campaign began with a series of videos broadcast in social media and an activity which consisted of cutting off the water supply to the campus and putting up posters in the toilets bearing the slogan Where's the water?. In parallel, a marquee was set up to collect donations for the construction of a drinking water tank at the school in the village of Mbandi (Kenya), in collaboration with , a non-profit association based in the autonomous community of Catalonia.??
The money that was raised indeed helped the Mbandi school to have one drinking water tank for the students for the new school year, after works finished between June and July. The students are continuing the campaign to achieve more and build up a second tank for the educational centre. Together we can make a difference in the world!, say the students running this initiative, supported by Pompeu Fabra University.