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Sponsor a Refugee Child Like Karim

Children make up more than half of the world's 22.5 million refugees*. Many have known nothing but war, deprivation and fear. They aren't in school and often struggle to find the basic essentials - their lives and futures at risk.

You can help. By sponsoring a refugee child in Egypt, like Karim**, you can be a hero in his life and in the lives of other children in his community. With your steady support, they'll finally have the chance to grow up healthy, learning and safe.

Because every child, everywhere, deserves a future.
*Source: UNHCR
**Name changed for protection

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Children make up more than half of the world's 22.5 million refugees*. Many have known nothing but war, deprivation and fear. They aren't in school and often struggle to find the basic essentials - their lives and futures at risk. You can help.

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How South Sudan’s ‘lost boy’ brought water to his village | Africa Renewal

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Salva Dut (left) pumps water from one of the boreholes he has helped drill in South Sudan. Photo: Water for South Sudan
Photo: Water for South Sudan

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How South Sudan’s ‘lost boy’ brought water to his village | Africa Renewal

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Salva Dut (left) pumps water from one of the boreholes he has helped drill in South Sudan. Photo: Water for South Sudan
Photo: Water for South Sudan

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Water Wells In South Sudan: Challenges & Solutions

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Discover how Idaho students’ clean water project tackles challenges of wells for South Sudan. Learn more and support sustainable water access today.

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We Walk For Water Fundraiser Raised Money For Wells In South Sudan

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It all started with a Lost Boy of Sudan who just kept walking...

Water for South Sudan began when a Lost Boy from a rural village in southwestern Sudan returned home, only to find his father fighting deadly waterborne parasites.

After seeing his father's condition, Salva decided to take matters into his own hands and help his community access better water, sanitation, and hygiene practices.

And today, we call this movement Water for South Sudan!

5 MILLION

people in South Sudan live without daily access to safe water and sanitation services.

3.7 MILES
Children, often girls, spend their days walking for water. They walk an average of 3.7 miles per trip. Sometimes they make multiple trips to obtain water, carrying up to 40 pounds (18 kgs) of water each time.

10 PERCENT
of people in South Sudan have access to basic sanitation services

20 Years of Watering the Seeds of Change

Water Wells

We help drill, maintain, and restore water wells so the people in South Sudan have access to clean water all year-round.

Hygiene

We make sure to educate communities about hygiene so that the clean water from existing wells doesn't get contaminated due to poor hygiene practices.

Sanitation

Our sanitation program makes sure people have access to latrines so communities can prevent the spread of diseases.

Subscribe to The Wellspring, our monthly newsletter.

Stay up-to-date with our news and events.

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people in South Sudan live without daily access to safe water and sanitation services. Children, often girls, spend their days walking for water. They walk an average of 3.7 miles per trip. Sometimes they make multiple trips to obtain water, carrying up to 40 pounds (18 kgs) of water each time.

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Water covers 70% of our planet, and it is easy to think that it will always be plentiful. However, freshwater—the stuff we drink, bathe in, irrigate our farm fields with—is incredibly rare. Only 3% of the world’s water is fresh water, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use.
As a result, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year. Inadequate sanitation is also a problem for 2.4 billion people—they are exposed to diseases, such as cholera and typhoid fever, and other water-borne illnesses. Two million people, mostly children, die each year from diarrheal diseases alone.
Many of the water systems that keep ecosystems thriving and feed a growing human population have become stressed. Rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up or becoming too polluted to use. More than half the world’s wetlands have disappeared. Agriculture consumes more water than any other source and wastes much of that through inefficiencies. Climate change is altering patterns of weather and water around the world, causing shortages and droughts in some areas and floods in others.
At the current consumption rate, this situation will only get worse. By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. And ecosystems around the world will suffer even more.

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Refugee Children: The Challenges They Face and the Efforts to Overcome Them – Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

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Kids are thirsty for knowledge! Quench that thirst by learning simple ways to save water with WaterSense.

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2021 Global Impact Award: Salva Dut | Well Aware

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Salva Dut was born in a rural village in southwestern Sudan to the Dinka tribe. At 11 years old, the Sudanese Civil War reached his village and separated Salva from his family. He joined thousands of boys, famously known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, on their journey by foot to seek safety in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. After living in refugee camps for 10 years, Salva was given the opportunity to move to the United States, where he was embraced by a family in Rochester, New York. Several years later, Salva learned that his father was still alive in Southern Sudan but was suffering with a disease caused by waterborne parasites. His father’s illness inspired Salva to help both his father and his country by bringing clean water to those in need. This was the beginning of Water for South Sudan.

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It all started with a Lost Boy of Sudan who just kept walking...

Water for South Sudan began when a Lost Boy from a rural village in southwestern Sudan returned home, only to find his father fighting deadly waterborne parasites.

After seeing his father's condition, Salva decided to take matters into his own hands and help his community access better water, sanitation, and hygiene practices.

And today, we call this movement Water for South Sudan!

5 MILLION

people in South Sudan live without daily access to safe water and sanitation services.

3.7 MILES
Children, often girls, spend their days walking for water. They walk an average of 3.7 miles per trip. Sometimes they make multiple trips to obtain water, carrying up to 40 pounds (18 kgs) of water each time.

10 PERCENT
of people in South Sudan have access to basic sanitation services

20 Years of Watering the Seeds of Change

Water Wells

We help drill, maintain, and restore water wells so the people in South Sudan have access to clean water all year-round.

Hygiene

We make sure to educate communities about hygiene so that the clean water from existing wells doesn't get contaminated due to poor hygiene practices.

Sanitation

Our sanitation program makes sure people have access to latrines so communities can prevent the spread of diseases.

Subscribe to The Wellspring, our monthly newsletter.

Stay up-to-date with our news and events.

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people in South Sudan live without daily access to safe water and sanitation services. Children, often girls, spend their days walking for water. They walk an average of 3.7 miles per trip. Sometimes they make multiple trips to obtain water, carrying up to 40 pounds (18 kgs) of water each time.

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TeachMideast - An Educational Initiative of the Middle East Policy Council

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Country Overview Population: 50,816,834 Population Growth Rate: 0.81% Religious Groups Breakdown: Islam 90.7%, 5.4% Christian, and other traditional faiths. Youth Unemployment: 18.27% UNDP HDI: 170 Life Expectancy (Male Life Expectancy & Female Life Expectancy): 66.3, M: 63.5, F: 69.8 Literacy Rate (Male Literacy Rate & Female Literacy Rate): 60.7%, M: 65%, F: 56% Primary School

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Countries around the world are having a hard time dealing with water shortages. Here’s a look at recent problems in South Africa, Mozambique, and Iran.

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Sesame Street and the IRC are helping refugee children overcome trauma | The IRC

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Learn how Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee are changing the lives of young refugees and displaced children across the Middle East.

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Addressing the Global Water Crisis | Kid Reporters’ Notebook | Scholastic Inc.

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Understanding the Importance of Water Conservation - Earth.Org Kids

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Water is a precious resource, and it is important that we all do our part to conserve it. In this article, we explore the importance of water conservation and share some simple ways that kids can help save water and protect our planet’s most important resource.

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Water Crisis in Sudan: Impact & Challenges [4 Causes]

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Join us in understanding the gravity of the South Sudan water crisis and the collective efforts to secure a sustainable future.

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Sudan National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) | UNDP Climate Change Adaptation

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Climate change poses significant challenges to a developing country like Sudan, the largest in Africa.