DigDeep y Water For People lanzan Vessel™ Collective para unir esfuerzos en el sector del agua, el saneamiento y la higiene (WASH) de EE. UU.

October 4, 2023 (Los Angeles, CA) – Today, DigDeep, una organización sin fines de lucro de derechos humanos que trabaja para garantizar el acceso universal al agua potable y el saneamiento adecuado en los Estados Unidos, se complace en compartir el lanzamiento de Vaso™, un nuevo colectivo con la participación de una docena de organizaciones WASH (Acceso al Agua, Saneamiento e Higiene) nacionales que toman acciones colaborativas para cerrar la brecha de acceso al agua para cada persona en la nación.

Más de 2 millones de personas en Estados Unidos viven en hogares sin agua corriente ni retretes con cisterna. Ninguna organización puede hacer frente a esta situación por sí sola. Si bien existe un sector WASH internacional fuerte y eficaz, con inversiones de miles de millones de dólares por parte de agencias gubernamentales, ONG y otros filántropos en lugares como África subsahariana, no existe un sector de agua, saneamiento e higiene que sea eficaz y sostenible. no existe un sector WASH (agua, saneamiento e higiene) formal en Estados Unidos para abordar esta crisis en casa.

Vessel™ is the first step in building a formal, robust and dedicated U.S. WASH sector: a network of nonprofits, funders, academics, government agencies and other community champions to share knowledge, strategic coordination and engage in more effective policymaking.

"Closing the water access gap in the United States is too large of a problem for any one organization to solve alone," said Kabir Thatte, DigDeep’s Director of Policy & Coalitions. "Vessel™ is an effort to bring collective action to this complex, and often hidden, issue. We look forward to working alongside other nonprofits, policymakers, academia, and business leaders to uplift the voices of impacted communities and find lasting solutions." 

The Vessel™ collective is spearheaded by DigDeep y Water For People, con la participación de una docena de otras organizaciones prominentes que realizan trabajo WASH a nivel nacional, incluido el Consorcio de Salud Tribal Nativa de Alaska (ANTHC), el Centro para la Seguridad y Cooperación del Agua (CWSC), la Asociación Internacional de Funcionarios de Plomería y Mecánica (IAPMO), el Centro Johns Hopkins para la Salud Indígena, Moonshot Missions, el Instituto del Pacífico, la Alianza de Asistencia a las Comunidades Rurales (RCAP), la Alianza para el Agua de Estados Unidos, el Cuerpo de Ingeniería Comunitaria, la American Business Water Coalition y Xylem.

"We are committed to ensuring that everyone has access to lasting safe water and sanitation services," said Sarah Bramley, Chief Impact Officer, Water For People. "Everyone doesn’t only apply to people in low and middle-income countries. It also applies to our neighbors right here in the United States. Vessel™ gives us a tool to come together to speak with a common voice towards making the human right to water a reality for all."

Inspired by the international WASH sector, the Vessel™ collective envisions a united effort that extends beyond any one organization’s agenda. To kickstart this collaborative endeavor, a domestic convening is scheduled for May 2024 in Washington, DC. This event will gather representatives from government agencies, funders, and other stakeholders from over 150 domestic WASH organizations. The aim is to foster cross-sector collaboration and set action-oriented targets to begin a concerted response to the water and wastewater crisis.

Vessel™’s goals are ambitious and impactful:

• Coalition Building: Uniting NGOs, academics, public and private sectors, Vessel™ forms a structured domestic coalition for unified action.
• Community Amplification: Engaging frontline communities and WASH leaders, Vessel™ gains insights and tailors strategies to the crisis.
• Target Setting: Collectively defining goals and actionable targets, Vessel™ paves the way for a comprehensive domestic response.
• Intercambio de conocimientos: Proveer a las organizaciones del sector conocimientos prácticos, soluciones y capacitación a través de talleres.
• Conciencia pública: Ampliar la urgencia entre las partes interesadas, los funcionarios y el público hacia un propósito unido.
• Incidencia en el cambio: Coordinación de una agenda política para impulsar reformas y asegurar recursos para las comunidades marginadas.

Para obtener más información, visita vesselcollective.us.

About Vessel™
Vessel™ is a collective of national WASH organizations dedicated to addressing the water and sanitation crisis in the United States. Formed with the belief in collective action, the coalition aims to close the U.S. Water Gap through collaboration, community engagement, setting actionable targets, knowledge exchange, policy advocacy, and raising public awareness. By uniting organizations with a shared mission and forming the foundation of the domestic U.S. WASH sector, Vessel™ strives to ensure every individual’s right to clean and reliable water services. For more information, please visit www.vesselcollective.us. 

Acerca de DigDeep
DigDeep is a human rights nonprofit working to ensure every person in the United States has access to clean running water and sanitation at home. DigDeep is a leading voice in research and policy advocacy across the U.S., and its community-led infrastructure projects have brought clean, running water to hundreds of families through its award-winning Navajo Water Project (Arizona, New Mexico and Utah), Appalachia Water Project (West Virginia), and Colonias Water Project (Texas). DigDeep co-authored the "Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States Report" and authored the follow-up report "Draining: The Economic Impact of America’s Hidden Water Crisis." For more information, please visit www.digdeep.org.

Acerca de Water For People

Water For People, motivated by the fact that water is a human right, is a nonprofit working across nine countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa to address the global water crisis. In bringing together communities, local businesses, and governments to build, operate, and maintain their own systems, Water For People’s approach ensures that every family, health clinic, and school has lasting access to safe water and sanitation. For more information, please visit www.waterforpeople.org.