Beyonce backs clean water project in Burundi

Jul 03, 2017 06:26 am

Beyonce is throwing her superstar power behind a new effort to bring safe, clean water to children in Burundi in a partnership with Unicef, the United Nations' children's agency said on Friday.

Plans call for the project, Beygood4burundi, to help build wells and improve hygiene education and water and sanitation facilities in schools, Unicef and the US singer said.

Two in five people in Burundi in East Africa have no access to clean water. Water- and sanitation-related diseases are among the leading causes of death for children in the nation of 12 million people, they said.

One in 12 children in Burundi dies before the age of five, according to Unicef.

Beyonce, who has three children, including twins born earlier this month, said: "Access to water is a fundamental right. When you give children clean and safe water, you don't just give them life, you give them health, an education and a brighter future."

She added that more than two million people in Burundi spend more than 30 minutes a day collecting water, forcing children to miss school and endangering girls in particular as they walk miles in search of wells.  - REUTERS