Water Aid update

A message from Water Aid:

"The world is waking up to water.

While colleagues in Washington worked right up until the last moment to make Friday's Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) High Level Meeting a success, I was glued to my screen at home watching the action unfold on a live internet stream. Over tiga,000 miles away the buzz in the room was still palpable. The meeting got off to a great start with inspiring speeches setting the tone for what was to come with impassioned rallying calls, such as "it can happen, it must happendanquot;, "water is life, sanitation is dignity".

Then, almost an hour in, the moment that we in the UK had really been waiting for ? It was the turn of International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell to speak. Supporters like you had persuaded him to attend the meeting and here he was ? Now what would he say? We could scarcely have hoped for what happened next. Mr Mitchell seemed genuinely excited as he announced that the UK is to DOUBLE its targets on water and sanitation.

We've been doggedly campaigning for the UK government to prioritise this overlooked sector for years, and thanks to your support we've really felt the campaign gain momentum over the last few months ? Even so, the implications of this result were hard to take in. An extra 30 MILLION people will now be reached by 2015 through UK aid ? At least 60 million in total. Incredible news!

The meeting continued for several hours with more and more countries signing up to the SWA partnership and pledging to prioritise water and sanitation. Finally, it seems the world is waking up to water.

Read more about this momentous meeting on the Water Works website where you'll find photos, videos, audio clips and blogs.

With best wishes,

Rebecca Owen

Senior Supporter Engagement Officer (Campaigns)"