Water for All, a non-profit organization voluntarily managed by employees of Atlas Copco Group and Epiroc (*), has been included among the strategic objectives of the multinational for the 2025–2027 period. This decision reinforces the Group’s commitment, which contributes to the project by doubling employees’ spontaneous donations every year, and demonstrates how access to clean water is a fundamental tool for promoting inclusiveness and sustainability.
Ensuring access to drinking water, besides being essential for adequate sanitation services, is also an important factor in women’s empowerment. In northern Uganda, for example, where only 30% of families have acceptable sanitation facilities, young women must walk several kilometers every day to collect water for their families. This daily effort limits their ability to attend school together with male peers and reduces opportunities to build a future different from the one imposed by traditions and social expectations.
The One Health for Inclusive WASH project (**), active in Northern Uganda during 2024–2026 and developed by Water for All Italy in collaboration with Amref Health Africa, focuses on training and spreading essential hygiene and sanitation practices to improve the health of vulnerable communities.
Main objectives:
– Increase access to safe WASH services for 2,800 students in 4 schools and for 3,900 members of 10 surrounding communities.
– Promote proper hygiene behaviors and deepen knowledge on sexual and reproductive health among 2,800 students.
– Improve access to drinking water for 6,300 people (3,900 through 13 rehabilitated wells and 2,400 through upgraded water pipelines).
– Strengthen integrated hygiene and sanitation services for 19,200 beneficiaries in 80 villages, following the “One Health” approach (**).
– Increase awareness and good governance to ensure sustainable access to drinking water and sanitation services.
Testimony from a young woman involved in the project:
“Hello everyone, my name is Akoli Miriam, I am 20 years old and have lived for more than 10 years in the village of Omokngom, in the sub-county of Puranga in Northern Uganda, together with my son. In our village, families used to collect water from a small stream about 2.5 km away; it took us at least a couple of hours to collect the water and return home, so we could cook and wash our clothes. The water, however, was not clean. My son constantly suffered from diarrhea and typhoid, and almost once a month we had to go to the health center. Earlier this year, Amref and Water for All installed a clean water distribution point, and the WASH officer organized meetings with all the villagers to raise awareness on proper water use. Today, I can access clean water near my home, and my son and my mother no longer suffer from diseases caused by dirty water! Thank you Water for All! Miriam.”
The current project continues the experience of Solar for Inclusive WASH, completed in 2024, thanks to which today 5,100 students in 6 schools and more than 30,000 beneficiaries in 48 local communities have access to drinking water and WASH services through the installation of solar panels, construction of sanitary blocks, and rehabilitation of dozens of wells.
The projects in Northern Uganda were identified by Water for All Italy, a non-profit organization active since 2007, which today includes 13 Atlas Copco Group companies, for a total of about 400 donors, and is chaired by a Steering Committee of 13 people. One Health for Inclusive WASH North Uganda 2026 is funded by Water for All Italy, the Peter Wallenberg Water for All Foundation, and seven other Water for All organizations worldwide.
“Coordinating Water for All Italy’s activities is incredibly rewarding, because it allows me to see firsthand how donations improve people’s quality of life,” says Manuela Stagnati, ambassador of Water for All Italy. “The inclusion of Water for All among Atlas Copco Group’s strategic goals is an important sign of the value sustainability and inclusion hold for the Group and of its commitment to contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular: clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), gender equality (SDG 5).”
(*) The Epiroc Group was part of Atlas Copco Group until 2018.
(**) Water, Sanitation & Hygiene.
(***) One Health is an integrated health approach that recognizes the deep interconnection between humans, animals, and the environment.