Clean drinking water for all: tackling water scarcity with UNICEF and solar power
Jul 29, 2026Sustainability Stories / CorporateA matter of responsibility: DEKRA supports UNICEF’s work for safe water supply
There are things in life whose value we only realize when they are missing. Clean drinking water is one of them. Yet for many people, water scarcity is not a distant scenario. More than two billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water at home. For them, water scarcity is part of daily life. It shows when the morning journey does not lead to school, but to a distant water point. When cooking becomes a challenge. Or when a girl has no access to basic hygiene during her period. Moments like these happen every day. And they happen in many parts of Ethiopia and India.
The effects of climate change often hit those already living in difficult conditions particularly hard,” says Moritz Stocker. As Project Manager Corporate Sustainability at DEKRA, he knows the issue well and helps drive it forward within the company. “DEKRA is a global company. That also means we carry global responsibility.” DEKRA shows what that responsibility looks like through its partnership with UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. By 2030, around 860,000 children and their families in Ethiopia and India are set to gain access to clean and affordable drinking water through the partnership. To help make this happen, DEKRA is supporting UNICEF’s “Water Security for All” initiative over five years with a total of five million euros.
The effects of climate change often hit those already living in difficult conditions particularly hard.
Moritz Stocker, Project Manager Corporate Sustainability at DEKRA
Ensuring water supply – reliable and affordable
The focus is on drought-affected regions in Ethiopia, including Somali and Oromia, as well as the Indian states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. These areas may lie thousands of kilometers apart, but the challenges are similar: irregular rainfall, declining groundwater reserves and rising temperatures are putting growing pressure on local communities.People need a water supply that does not depend on rain or surface water,” Moritz Stocker explains. “That supply must be climate-resilient – and sustainable.
A look at Balisareedo in Ethiopia’s Guna Gado district shows what this means in practice. In this small village in the Somali region, construction of a fully solar-powered water distribution system began last year thanks to the funding. A well that had already been drilled by the government can now finally be used reliably by the local population. Instead of diesel engines, a 60-kilowatt photovoltaic system will provide the energy needed in future – even when fuel is unavailable or prices fluctuate. Once completed, the system is expected to supply drinking water to 8,500 people.
In Ethiopia, the water crisis is becoming more severe due to failed rainy seasons, prolonged drought and increasing climate volatility. The short rains at the end of 2025 were among the weakest since records began. In the south of the country in particular, many water sources have dried up or can now only be used unreliably.
India is also facing growing water stress: more than 600 million people live in regions with high to extreme water scarcity. Climate variability, irregular rainfall and falling groundwater levels are making access to drinking water even harder, especially in rural areas.
India is also facing growing water stress: more than 600 million people live in regions with high to extreme water scarcity. Climate variability, irregular rainfall and falling groundwater levels are making access to drinking water even harder, especially in rural areas.
Safe water supply: laying the groundwork today to deliver results tomorrow
projects such as the one in Balisareedo, the partnership has focused in recent months above all on building the technical and institutional foundations for greater climate resilience and water security. In Ethiopia, local authorities and community leaders, as well as elders and women’s groups, had the opportunity to share their experiences and views and to actively shape the process. Three data collection methods were developed, including one for the systematic recording of water sources. The aim is to improve the way climate risks and local water security are assessed in the future.
In India, UNICEF and its local partners carried out climate and groundwater analyses in selected locations. They made the findings available to communities through knowledge platforms, including insights into seasonal fluctuations and groundwater stress. At the same time, they advanced the expansion and operation of a total of 108 solar-powered water systems. To ensure maintenance, monitoring and troubleshooting, local technicians, engineers and pump operators are set to receive training in the future. “This groundwork matters, because it is the only way we can achieve lasting impact – especially in places where climate conditions are becoming ever more challenging,” says Moritz Stocker.
The DEKRA Climate Impact Program is more than a claim
Thinking sustainably – and acting accordingly – will remain the top priority for UNICEF and DEKRA over the next four years of the partnership. And the work continues. In Ethiopia, this includes additional climate-resilient water systems and the expansion of programs into further drought-affected areas in Oromia and Somali. In India, the focus will be on even stronger monitoring and grievance mechanisms, as well as on embedding solar-powered solutions for decentralized community water supply on a broader scale.
Moritz Stocker and his colleagues will also continue to push the work forward. The partnership with UNICEF forms part of the DEKRA Climate Impact Program, which puts an impact-driven and honest approach at its center, as the info box explains. “For DEKRA, climate responsibility is more than a claim or a carbon accounting neutrality promise,” says Moritz Stocker. “We want to create real climate impact.
The child who does not go to school in the morning, but to a distant water point. The mother who has no clean water for cooking. The girl who has to go without hygiene. Moments like these will continue to exist. In Ethiopia and India, and around the world. But hopefully, they will become less frequent. What it takes is collaboration – local and global. “Our approach to climate responsibility is based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs,” Moritz Stocker explains. The partnership with UNICEF shows how theory can turn into practice. So what comes next? “We will continue to pursue this approach, take it further and scale it up – together with UNICEF and with other institutions and companies. Because we are convinced of one thing: real impact only happens when we work together.
The DEKRA Climate Impact Program combines the consistent reduction of the company’s own emissions with support for external climate projects. In this way, DEKRA aims to reduce its carbon footprint in line with the degree target while also strengthening climate mitigation and adaptation through projects such as reforestation, peatland restoration and solar-powered drinking water supply. More information is available on the website.