Acqua for Life : Eau et Hygiène pour tous

Where Acqua for Life works

Ongoing projects
Completed projects

In Papua New Guinea, only 37% of the population has access to at least a basic water supply. Since 2018, the Acqua for Life project in partnership with WaterAid is training coaches, helping boost girls' self-confidence and hygiene knowledge. The installation of improved water and sanitation facilities in schools in the central region has benefited thousands of children. In the upcoming three years, the Acqua for Life initiative will help construct 72 toilets and install 12 rainwater tanks for the benefit of over 3,500 students.

Greater China

Acqua for Life collaborated with Chengdu Show You Non-profit Development Center, developing projects into the Gansu province, in China. The project helps a total of 1,850 students and teachers across four primary schools with the priority of securing a safe drinking water supply. A series of approaches were carried out, including tackling the problem of polluted water, strengthening the awareness of the importance of health and hygiene, improving and maintaining drinking water facilities, and educating local communities on safe drinking water.

Sri lanka

Tampitiya villagers are benefiting from a newly drilled well, a pump room, water tank, filtering plant and pipes direct to individual households.

Nepal

Acqua for Life is supporting Unicef’s national water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) program in Nepal to reach the most vulnerable children and families. Unicef will work in five targeted municipalities in Province No.2 and No.5 to improve water quality and provide sustainable access to safe drinking water for approximately 5,000 people.

This program by Unicef runs in parallel to the existing water projects by Acqua for Life’s partner WaterAid, where since 2018 Acqua for Life has contributed to constructing water and sanitation facilities at birthing and healthcare centers in Kailali and Bardiya, helping approximately 5,520 pregnant women.

India

Acqua for Life initiative has been operating in both Kolkata and Tamil Nadu state in South India.

In Kolkata, 35% of schools had no access to drinking facilities in 2015. Over the three next years, via Acqua for Life projects, four schools will be equipped and capacitated with water filtration systems, water storage tanks, designated drinking water stations and taps, new urinals and toilets; helping approximately 2,000 children.

In Tamil Nadu state, in addition to the installation of water systems, emphasis has been put on the sensitization of hundreds of teachers and students regarding preservation and use of water, hygiene and diseases

Madagascar

In the Manjankandriana District of Madagascar, water access is only around 58%. For the last two years, through the support of Acqua for Life initiative in partnership with WaterAid, a long-term impact on the region has been possible, achieving clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. With 2 gravity-fed water supply systems connected to 17 tap stands and two school sanitary blocks successfully built, over 1,000 students have now daily access to clean water.

Kenya

In Kenya 70% of the population in rural areas lack of access to basic sanitation. In the Rift Valley, Acqua for Life is installing water supply systems and about 15,000 community members and school-going children will benefit from it directly.

Argentina

Acqua for Life has been operating in both Patagonia and the Provincia de Misiones.

In Patagonia a treatment plant was installed using the reverse osmosis technique to produce at least 15,000 liters per day of drinking water. 1000 people will see their drinking water secured and guaranteed.

In the Selva Yriapu reserve, thanks to a water pump, piping system and a storage tank, 100 liters per person and per day will be accessible.

Brazil

The Acqua for Life project in Brazil is in the State of Sao Paolo, where the access to safe water increases food security and enhances environmental sustainability by improving the access of farmers to appropriate irrigation technologies and practices.

Bolivia

Eight municipalities in Cruceños Valley have declared a state of natural catastrophe due to drought. Cisterns, like the ones installed through Acqua for Life project, provide a reliable supply of water to children and families, and can be restocked with water brought from elsewhere even if the local supply runs dry.

Haiti

Giorgio Armani Beauty, via the Acqua for Life initiative, has partnered with UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene initiative to provide safe, clean water for children in Haiti, improving sanitation facilities and educating communities on improved hygiene behaviors.

Mexico

Four schools in two townships of the state of Morelos benefit from Acqua for Life's commitment to address the issues of clean water, hygiene, and sanitation in the most deprived communities.

Ghana

Barely half of the population living in rural Ghana enjoys access to water. With the 95 water supply systems built over the last five years, Acqua for Live project initiated a change in these communities.

Senegal

In the Ranérou-Ferlo district, in three different schools, water supply systems and latrine blocks with hand washing facilities and drinking fountains were installed. Rather than having to fetch water before classes start or, worse, missing out on school altogether, children can now spend their days in education.

Ivory Coast

Acqua for Life laid the first stone of a trans-boundary project by drilling a borehole in the village of Dohouan near the Bia River, a natural frontier between the Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Tanzania

Tanzania has one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. However, its economic growth has not benefited all areas of the country equally, with 25 million people lacking access to clean water water, and 40 million people lacking access to improved sanitation. Within the next year, in partnership with Acqua for Life, Water.org will work to transform the lives of more than 18,000 people in Tanzania with access to safe water and sanitation through affordable financing, such as small loans.

Zimbabwe

In the Chivi district in Zimbabwe, Acqua for Life is cooperating with local partner Dabane Trust to improve the clean water, hygiene, and sanitation conditions within the next three years. As still 46% of the rural population does not have access to safe drinking water, the Acqua for Life initiative will result in concrete improved hygiene practices, proper access to clean water supplies and sanitation facilities. 17,600 lives will be transformed thanks to 35 functional rehabilitated boreholes, 2 piped water schemes, 280 latrines and 280 handwashing facilities.

Nicaragua

In Nicaragua, over 1 million people currently live without clean water. That is almost 1 in every 5 people. Acqua for Life and WaterAid are working together in Bilwi, Nicaragua to transform the lives of its communities through clean water and good hygiene. Young women and men will be educated (through basic plumbing, construction and business trainings) and empowered to deliver water, sanitation and hygiene services in their own communities.

390 000 beneficiaries

530 water supply
systems

Over CAD 13.5M; invested in water

“Water is perhaps the element that I feel closest to. For me water represents life and regeneration, but also calmness and serenity. Access to clean water is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges in the 21st century.”

Acqua for Life was created in 2010 from a philosophy as simple as it is fundamental: that water is one of the most important elements to life, as it creates life and empowers lives. Yet for 1 out of 9 people globally, clean water is difficult to access.

The Acqua for Life initiative focuses on delivering universal access to drinking water in water-scarce regions. Among its principal values are:

A comprehensive approach committed to addressing the issues of clean water, hygiene, and sanitation in the most deprived communities
Activities that include the installation of water points, latrines, and rainwater collection, water filtering, and water purification systems
A sustainable approach to structuring projects, including education for the community about how to maintain the projects and WASH (water, hygiene, and sanitation) behavior, to empower local communities and sustain Acqua for Life projects in the long term

Access to clean water has a positive socio-economic impact on communities’ health and livelihood. Via its projects, Acqua for Life’s mission is to play a role in helping people reclaim their right to drinking water and sanitation.

Acqua for Life Our partners

For the twelfth year running, Giorgio Armani’s Acqua for Life campaign continues to help Unicef provide safe, clean drinking water for children.

Since 2010, Giorgio Armani has supported Unicef’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Programs in Burkina Faso, Nicaragua, Ivory Coast, Guatemala, Haiti, Tanzania, Togo, Vietnam and Nepal. As part of Acqua for Life’s 2021 campaign, funds raised will continue to support Unicef’s WASH programs in Nepal, improving water quality and providing sustainable access to safe drinking water for approximately 5,000 people.

In 2018, Acqua for Life selected WaterAid to join its existing partners, in light of WaterAid’s technical expertise in the WASH sector. WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere, within a generation, and is currently working across 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalized people. Also, WaterAid has a global presence, collaborative approach, and commitment to finding sustainable solutions to the water crisis around the world.

This year, the Acqua for Life initiative will support five WaterAid projects focusing on schools and health care facilities in India, Madagascar, Malawi, Nicaragua and Uganda.

In 2020, Acqua for Life has joined forces with Water.org, a global non-profit organization that helps people get access to safe water and sanitation through affordable financing, such as small loans. With more than 25 years of experience and insight, Water.org uses market-driven financial solutions to transform lives and end the global water crisis. To date, Water.org has empowered more than 25 million people in 16 countries with access to safe water and sanitation.

In partnership with Acqua for Life, Water.org works to transform the lives of more than 85,000 people in Tanzania with access to safe water and sanitation.

Acqua for life
by Viviane Sassen

Capturing the joyful journey to clean water in Madagascar and in Nepal, in partnership with WaterAid, Viviane Sassen created a film and photographs that illustrate the transformative power clean water. Her video and photos show the immanent connection between water and life. Viviane Sassen's aesthetic draws on documentary as much as staged photography, and its visual multitude invites myriad interpretations. The work aims to disregard traditional genre boundaries and tackle the often-problematic link between photography, imperialism, and the colonial imagination.