Hollywood star Matt Damon is a leading figure in efforts to get clean water and sanitation to the poorest people in the world. Damon and co-founder of charty Water.Org Gary White tell us why water is fundamental to tackling global inequality.
Growing up in the affluent US, Matt Damon was able to dream big - he and his schoolmate Ben Affleck headed to New York to become actors.
Have you read?Indian communities are tackling water insecurity by reviving local pondsThis desalination breakthrough could make clean water cheaper
But what if his childhood had been spent walking miles every day to fetch water for his family? There would have been little time for ambitions, or even basic education.
Those are the people Damon is trying to reach with the charities that he co-founded with engineer Gary White, water.org and WaterEquity, which help people in 13 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to build the basic infrastructure they need to get clean water and sanitation.
"You've got a million children dying of entirely preventable things every year like diarrhoea, which is a ridiculous idea to those of us in the West whose kids might miss a day of school from something like that," Damon told the World Economic Forum's podcast Radio Davos in an interview to mark World Water Day
"The actual impact [of access to water] is incalculable."
Check out all our podcasts on wef.ch/podcasts:
World Economic Forum Book Club Podcast - subscribe
Join the World Economic Forum Podcast Club
