Intelligence Squared — "Everything Starts With Water"

Episode Date: December 17, 2025
Guest: Amica Godfrey, Executive Director of International Programs, WaterAid
Host: Coco Kahn

Episode Overview

In this episode, Intelligence Squared host Coco Kahn is joined by Amica Godfrey of WaterAid to explore water’s centrality to health, education, livelihoods, and equitable development. Drawing on two decades of experience in the WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) sector, Amica shares deeply personal stories, illuminating the ripple effects of clean water access and the complex challenges of delivering it sustainably to vulnerable communities worldwide. The episode highlights technological and social innovations, policy gaps, and ways listeners can be part of the solution.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Fundamental Importance of Water

• Personal Realization: Amica recounts growing up in Nigeria, and her early fieldwork encounter with guinea worm disease—a preventable infection linked to unsafe water (04:50).
  • "My first encounter with that was...worms climbing out from their legs, tied with sticks. And they said to me, clean water. I think that was the biggest shock of my life." —Amica Godfrey [05:33]
• Even in places where water is seemingly abundant, its safe availability is a crisis for millions.

2. The Invisible and Visible Roles of Water

• Clean water drives dramatic improvement in health, dignity, productivity, and opportunity.
  • Amica describes witnessing a health center’s transformation in Nigeria: from a birthing room with brown water to a modern, hygienic facility (06:57, 08:00).
  • "There was clean water everywhere... the transformation in the place was amazing." —Amica Godfrey [08:41]

3. Policy, Perception, and the Challenge of Prioritization

• Policy neglect is fueled by the invisibility of water’s foundational benefits versus the visible returns of energy or transport investment.
  • "Decision makers are very keen to invest in things that return... economic benefit that is obvious. That often clouds the fact that without water, none of this can succeed." —Amica Godfrey [10:42]
• Basic human water needs ("water for people") often lose out to agriculture or infrastructure.

4. Gender and Generational Impacts

• Water burdens disproportionately fall on women and girls, but access unlocks women-led enterprises, education, and community health.

  • "Where there is water, a lot of local enterprises... are women led. And when that happens and they raise money more, the families thrive." —Amica Godfrey [13:06]

• Education: Girls are more likely to stay in school where water and sanitation are present (15:29).

  • "Where schools have adequate water supply... more girls are encouraged to come to school." —Amica Godfrey [15:29]

5. Misconceptions Hindering Progress

• Water is seen as "simple" and ubiquitous, but safe, treated water requires ongoing investment.
  • "People say, well, it should be free, but that's not possible because it does require quite a lot to treat it, to get it to the stage where we can use it." —Amica Godfrey [17:45]

6. Technological Evolution and Innovation

• Past: Wells and hand-pumps.
• Present: Solar-powered boreholes, communal tap stands, rainwater dilution solutions (20:12, 21:35).
  • "We’ve now found a way of still drilling those boreholes in the ground, but equipping them with pumps powered through solar that could then pump the water closer to people’s homes." —Amica Godfrey [21:24]
• Future: Focus on reducing water leakage (non-revenue water), use of AI and data analytics to improve urban water delivery (24:01).

7. Sustainable, Community-Led System Maintenance

• Transitioning from voluntary community groups to professionalized maintenance teams, supported by local organizing and innovative local financing models (28:03).
  • "We’re trying to do now is to almost have semi-professional groups... that will actually take it as a profession rather than on a voluntary basis." —Amica Godfrey [28:36]

8. Hope and the Next Generation

• Over 2.4 billion people have gained access to clean water since 2000; youth engagement and global recognition of water’s importance provide hope (31:42, 32:10).

9. Interconnectedness and Global Responsibility

• Water and health crises do not respect borders; everyone is connected via trade, travel, and migration (35:02).
  • "No one is protected because of where they are. If we solve the problem in one part of the world, we're solving it for the entire world." —Amica Godfrey [35:43]

10. How Listeners Can Get Involved

• Advocate, donate to WaterAid, and support crucial ongoing projects in Madagascar (climate resilience), Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Bangladesh (urban/rural solutions and female-led innovations) (37:01, 38:37).
  • "By visiting wateraid.org you can really help us to reach more people. Everything, everything starts with water." —Amica Godfrey [37:30]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Everything starts with water, especially in places where people don't have it." —Amica Godfrey [16:44]
• "Even a small contribution goes a long way in building a fairer, healthier, more sustainable future for us all." —Coco Kahn [42:22]
• "It will be a dream come true... a place where everybody can actually open the taps like we do here and get water where they don’t have to make that much effort and then everything else can fall into place." —Amica Godfrey on universal clean water access [41:00]
• "Speak up about the benefits of water…to just continue to speak up about the needs that we continue supporting and making sure that decisions we make are not going to impact on progress that has already been made." —Amica Godfrey [37:02]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:50] Amica’s childhood and first realization about the crucial link between water and health
• [06:57] – [09:24] Transformative impact of water in health centers
• [10:11] Policy and economic barriers to universal water access
• [12:17] Gender dynamics and community empowerment through water
• [14:43] Ripple effects: Education, women’s livelihoods, and generational change
• [17:28] Why investment lags behind need
• [20:12] Technological evolution: From wells to solar pumps and innovative urban solutions
• [24:01] Addressing urban water system losses and the role of AI
• [28:03] Sustainable community management — professionalizing maintenance
• [31:42] Progress and hope: Younger generations and global momentum
• [35:02] Why clean water is everybody’s issue, everywhere
• [37:01] How to get involved and support WaterAid programs
• [40:57] Vision for a world with universal clean water

Closing Reflection

This episode powerfully makes the case that clean water is the linchpin of societal progress, with ripple effects touching health, gender equity, education, and economic opportunity. Both poetic and practical, Amica Godfrey’s expertise and stories illustrate that every advancement in water access is a step toward a more just, healthy, and prosperous world—a vision listeners are invited to help make real.