WATER & SANITATION

WHY WATER & SANITATION?

Access to clean water and hygienic facilities results in improved health outcomes for families and entire communities. Contaminated water and poor sanitation can lead to diarrhea and the spread of diseases like cholera and typhoid. As a result, each year more than one million lives are lost due to lack of clean water, and over 297,000 children under age 5 die from diseases linked to poor hygiene. People living in extreme poverty are the ones most vulnerable to water and hygiene related diseases due to lack of access and infrastructure. Ironically, those living in poverty often pay more money for lower quality water than wealthier people with access to better quality infrastructure. In addition to impact on health outcomes, water access is critical to the livelihoods of people in low-income countries, 80% of whom are dependent on water for their work. Extreme poverty cannot be alleviated without safe, clean, and accessible water and sanitation facilities.

DID YOU KNOW?

• 3.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services
• 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services
• 2.3 billion people lack a basic hand washing facility with soap and water at home
• More than 1 million lives are lost each year due to unsafe water

OUR RESPONSE

One Day’s Wages comes alongside grassroots partners to install safe drinking water systems, construct latrines and hand-washing stations, and spread awareness about improved hygiene and sanitation.  Since 2009, we have supported 67 water and sanitation projects in under-resourced communities, impacting over 350,000 people. Through our partnerships, Francoise can now make and sell soap at her Batwa community’s hygiene center in Rwanda, and in Malawi, 13-year-old Alinafe is able to attend school regularly thanks to the construction of a new latrine and girls’ changing room on school grounds.