GENEVA, 12 Dec. 2022 – The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has become the most recent donor of the UN-hosted Sanitation and Water for All global partnership (SWA), pledging $1.2 million to support water, sanitation, and hygiene projects through 2024.
The Hilton Foundation joins other SWA donors, including governments and prominent foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Access to clean water and sanitation is a crucial component of prosperity and development,” said Nabil Chemaly, senior program officer for the Safe Water Initiative at the Hilton Foundation. “We are excited to partner with SWA to help achieve our Safe Water Initiative goal of ensuring reliable, affordable and safely managed water to one million people in low-income households, health facilities and schools in sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2025.” Key priorities of the Hilton Foundation include accelerating access to safely managed water services in line with Sustainable Development Goal 6 in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Uganda.
SWA will provide these countries with dedicated support to shore up water, sanitation, and hygiene services against climate impacts and integrate these efforts into National Adaptation Plans.
Additionally, SWA will help identify financial bottlenecks and monitor national budget allocations.
These efforts will also support and ensure/foster greater impact of SWA’s upcoming Finance Ministers’ Meeting in 2023, which will raise political will for investing in water and sanitation, as well as help government leaders budget for and finance the water and sanitation sector.
“The Hilton Foundation has been a major champion of the human rights to water and sanitation in Africa, and across the globe,” said Catarina de Albuquerque, CEO of SWA. “We are delighted to welcome their support to the partnership and look forward to celebrating the impact we will make together.”
ABOUT THE CONRAD N. HILTON FOUNDATION
International hotelier Conrad N. Hilton established the grantmaking foundation that bears his name in 1944 to help people living in poverty and experiencing disadvantage worldwide. Today, the work continues, concentrating on efforts to ensure healthy early childhood development and sustainable livelihoods for youth, support young people transitioning out of foster care, improve access to housing and support services for people experiencing homelessness, identify solutions to safe water access, and lift the work of Catholic sisters. Additionally, following selection by an independent, international jury, the Foundation annually awards the $2.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to an organization doing extraordinary work to reduce human suffering. The Foundation is one of the world’s largest, with approximately $8.5 billion in assets. It has awarded grants to date totaling more than $2.4 billion, $339 million worldwide in 2021. For more information, visit www.hiltonfoundation.org
ABOUT SANITATION AND WATER FOR ALL (SWA)
SWA is a United Nations-hosted partnership working towards a joint objective of water, sanitation, and hygiene for all. Its partners include governments, utilities, regulators, donors, financial institutions, UN agencies, civil society and research organizations and the private sector. For more information, visit www.sanitationandwaterforall.org.
Source: Sanitation and Water for All