British aid money is being used to push water privatisation on poor countries. As poor people lose out on clean water, big UK companies profit from this aid. Over a billion people worldwide cannot reach or afford clean water. The result is over 2 million people, mainly children, dying every year because they only have unclean water to drink.

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Filthy water cannot be washed - West African Proverb
Most of us take clean water for granted, but a sixth of the world�s population aren't so lucky. Over a billion people worldwide cannot reach or afford clean water. The result is over 2 million people, mainly children, dying every year because they only have unclean water to drink, while the lives of many more are blighted by the illness and preventable diseases that result from unsafe water and poor sanitation. Even where clean water is available the need to walk many miles each day to collect it restricts the life and educational chances of many millions, particularly women and children.

Privatisation has been pushed as the solution to this global water crisis, and millions of pounds of UK aid money has been spent supporting this approach. But it is now clear that privatisation has failed to deliver water to those most in need. Worldwide, it has led to unnecessarily high price rises and very few additional water connections, while big business reaps a profit. Water privatisation simply doesn't work.

But there are solutions to the global water crisis. Investment in the public sector delivers results. Across the world government, regional government and local communities are developing effective public sector approaches to ensuring that everyone has access to safe, affordable and sufficient water.

The World Development Movement is calling on the government to abandon its support for water privatisation and to invest instead in public solutions to the global water crisis.